Metro
Kidnapping, Killings of Kinsmen by Herdsmen, Edo Community Bans Sale, Consumption of Beef
Residents of Elelu village in Erah community in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State have banned the sale and consumption of beef following the alleged incessant kidnapping and killings of their kinsmen by suspected herdsmen.
The residents disclosed this during a protest at the community at the weekend.
The protesters made up of both young and old, also threatened to relocate to Edo State Government House for alternative shelter if the State government does not urgently come to their aid as the community is no longer inhabitable.
The residents in their large numbers with belongings on their heads, however, called on the state government to come to their rescue from the hands of suspected herdsmen who have continuously invaded their farmlands and kidnapped their fathers, husbands and children.
They alleged that in the last two weeks, about seven persons in the community have been kidnapped and killed.
Speaking, the concerned community leaders, youth representatives and vigilante leaders said the protest was also to mourn and honour the lives of their fallen heroes killed by suspected kidnappers.
The spokesperson of the group, Fred Enaikhe Aleburu gave the names of the fallen heroes such as Edekin Ighalo, Abdullahi and Victor Ogedengbe, a Vigilante commander.
Aleburu said the deceased lost their lives defending the community.
According to him, these courageous men stood against armed herdsmen who brought terror to the peaceful land.
“They shielded our mothers, our children, and our farmlands and for their sacrifice, they were murdered in cold blood.
“As we speak, the body of Victor Ogedengbe still lies in the mortuary. Yet the violence continues.
“In just the past two weeks, seven of our children have been kidnapped, with one still in captivity as we speak.
“Our forests have been turned into den of terror, criminal strongholds where ransom is demanded and innocent victims are kept under inhumane conditions.
“Our mothers can no longer go to the farm. Our youth are hunted. Our elderly live in fear. The lands that once sustained us now lie in waste and silence.
“This is not just insecurity, this is a deliberate war on our survival. This is a slow genocide.
“We are also here to protest hunger. Our people now suffer because they cannot farm. Our markets are empty. Our homes are filled with helplessness.
“What was once a self-sufficient and productive community is now battling starvation and fear.
“And so, today, we rise to say with one voice that ‘Enough Is Enough,’” he lamented.
He, however, called on the government to fulfil its constitutional duty to protect its citizens.
Aleburu said the community demanded immediate establishment of permanent security checkpoints on all roads and entry points leading into and out of Erah.
They also demanded a full-scale investigation and comprehensive flushing of forests to root out and eliminate all alleged terrorist elements hiding within the community.
“A sustained and visible security presence across our villages, to ensure long-term peace and protection.
“Emergency intervention to address food insecurity, including support for displaced farmers and restoration of safe farming activities.
“If our villages are no longer safe, we will sleep at the doorstep of leadership until we are heard and protected. Our lives are not negotiable.
“Furthermore, as a solemn response to our collective suffering and to honor our fallen defenders, the people of Erah hereby declare a permanent ban on the consumption and the sale of beef in our community.
“The killer herdsmen who hide behind cattle have taken too much from us. Our lives, our food, our peace. We will not continue to support a system built on our blood and tears,” he stated.
Also speaking, Chief Julius Unuigbe alleged that herdsmen have invaded their bushes looking for people to kidnap or kill.
Unuigbe said the people no longer sleep with their eyes closed.On his part, Joseph Edairu, one of the protesters lamented that one of his senior brothers, his friend’s two sisters and a Taraba man living in the community were recently kidnapped by suspected herdsmen.
Edairu, added that uptil now the abducted Taraba man is nowhere to be found.
“This is the reason why we came out to cry to the Edo State Government that they should come and us drive those kidnappers away from our bush,” he said.
On her part, Mrs Eunice Ighalo, added that ,”we can no longer go to the farm or river and we are now seriously living in hunger and poverty, that is why we decided that we will go to Edo State Government House to protest there.
Blessing Ogedegbe, wife to Victor Ogedenge, one of the deceased, while lamenting that the corpse of her husband killed in February 2025 is still at the mortuary, appealed to the state government to provide her with a job to enable her cater for her children.
The Senate has brought forward the screening of newly appointed Service Chiefs to Wednesday, October 29, reversing its earlier decision to conduct the exercise next week.
The announcement came shortly after Senate President, Godwill Akpabio, read a separate correspondence from President Bola Tinubu, seeking the confirmation of appointment of Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede.
Akpabio said the change was necessary to enable the military chiefs to assume their duties immediately.
President Bola Tinubu had urged the Senate to give expeditious consideration to the confirmation process to ensure continuity and effective coordination of the nation’s security architecture.
Following the new schedule, the Committee of the Whole is expected to conduct the screening exercise during plenary on Wednesday.
A few days ago, Tinubu reshuffled the military hierarchy. Tinubu removed General Christopher Musa, with Oluyede (a former Chief of Army Staff) replacing him as the Chief of Defence Staff.
He, however, retained Major-General E.A.P. Undiendeye as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
The rejigging, according to presidential aide Sunday Dare, was due to “the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture”.
“All appointments take immediate effect,” he wrote.
But critics have faulted the rejig of the military hierarchy, with the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC “as an opposition political party, our interest remains the stability of our country and our democracy. In the light of developments in our neighbourhood of Chad and the Sahel States, we are gravely concerned”) asking President Tinubu to come out clean on the reason for the move.
“Our position remains, therefore, that the Federal Government owes Nigerians a categorical explanation about what truly happened,” the ADC wrote in a statement by its spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi.
Senator Ned Nwoko on Sunday said he feels sorry for men with one wife, insisting that polygamy provides men greater stability and balance.
The lawmaker representing Delta North, who made the comment while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, also addressed recent allegations of domestic violence against him by his actress wife, Regina Daniels.
When asked how he copes with managing four wives—something many men find nearly impossible- Nwoko hesitated for a while before reacting.
“That is a different topic for discussion on another day. Yes, every man should do that. The example I give is this: just imagine telling you to stand on one foot or leg. You know how difficult it is.
“But to stand on two, three, four is much more balanced. That’s just the example I give. So I feel sorry for those who have one wife because it’s difficult to stand on one leg,” he stated.
When reminded that the Holy Bible does not endorse polygamy, Nwoko countered, “The Old Testament does. I am a man of faith. But that’s not what we are here for.”
Asked whether he had any regrets about his marital choices, the senator shook his head.
“No, I don’t have any regret. I will do the same thing again. Of course, that’s the way it should be. You should marry who you want to marry,” he defended stoutly.
On the domestic violence allegations trailing him, Nwoko dismissed them outright, saying, “No, come on. You know I am not a violent person. I respect my wives. I love them and my kids.”
His comments came just hours after Nollywood actress Regina Daniels, his estranged wife, flaunted a newly acquired mansion on social media amid reports of a marital crisis.
In a post on her Instagram page, Daniels shared photos and videos of the property with the caption, “In my house, I am a Queen! I needed a roof over my head, so I got this for me and my family.”
The post followed a viral video from October 18 showing the actress in tears outside her Abuja residence, lamenting alleged abuse.
“In Ned Nwoko’s house, I am nothing, but in my own house, I am a Queen. Not again. I can’t stand the violence, it’s too much,” she said in the footage.
The couple’s six-year marriage, once the subject of public fascination due to their wide age gap, has recently degenerated into a full-blown crisis now playing out before millions of Nigerians on social media.
The Punch
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in the early hours of Sunday, October 26, raided Proxy Night club at 7, Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, where a drug party was going on, and arrested over 100 suspects.
Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, while making this known, said the suspects arrested include the owner of the club, Mike Eze Nwalie Nwogu, alias Pretty Mike, who was taken into custody for interrogation.
“Cartons of illicit substances, including Loud and laughing gas, were recovered from suspects at the party and the club’s store.
“The raid followed intelligence about the drug party. NDLEA operatives who were embedded in the party between 11 pm on Saturday, 25th October, however, disrupted the gathering at 3 am on Sunday, 26th October, in line with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
