The Zion Prayer Movement Outreach (ZPMOM) has announced that its annual “Odeshi” programme would be held in Lagos from Friday,  December 13, to Sunday,  December 15, 2024.

Evangelist Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi, the Spiritual Director of the ministry, who disclosed this over the weekend, said the  programme would be held at Zion ground, Agor, Okota, Lagos, beginning at 10 a.m. each day.

“Odeshi”, which literally means “Does not leak or penetrate”, is a spiritual fortification prayer and fasting programme which officially marks the end-of-the-year activities for the ministry.

Evangelist Ebuka explained that the programme is to seek for divine protection for all those who would be travelling during the Christmas and New Year celebrations as well as to prepare followers of the ministry at Zion City as well as millions who follow online for God’s special blessings and favour for 2025.

With increase in cases of accidents and crime during the festive season, it is important for people to seek for divine protection as they travel within the country and from different parts of the world to visit families and loved ones, Ebuka noted.

On the expectations for this year’s programme, the Evangelist expressed optimism that the 2024 Odeshi would record thousands of people giving up their lives to Christ, outstanding miracles and healings, deliverance from bondage and salvation of souls. “This is the experience we had in previous years, and we expect even more of similar experiences,” he added.

Apart from mind-boggling testimonies and pin-point prophecies with solutions recorded at Zion, Ebuka is increasingly growing popular for conversion of native doctors, cultists and prostitutes, saving marriages on the brink of collapse, charity works of his Seraphic Foundation, free treatment for indigent families at Seraphic Hospital and giving out money to reconciled couples and converted people to enable them to start up decent businesses.

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has dismissed 19 senior officers from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for alleged misconduct.

PSC spokesperson, Ikechukwu Ani said in a statement on Friday, that the commission took the decision at its plenary.

Ani said the commission deliberated on 110 pending disciplinary matters, 23 appeals and petitions, and 13 court judgments.

He added that the commission also approved the reduction in ranks of 19 officers.

“The commission, after rigorous consideration of the pending disciplinary matters, approved the dismissal of nineteen (19) senior police officers which comprised ten assistant superintendents, six deputy superintendents, two chief superintendents and one superintendent,” the statement reads.

“The commission also approved the reduction in ranks of nineteen other senior police officers, one assistant commissioner of police, one chief superintendent, two superintendents, two deputy superintendents and thirteen assistant superintendents.

“Two assistant inspectors general of police also received some punishments, one, punishment of reprimand for refusal to carry out lawful instructions and the other, letter of warning for negligence.

“Several other officers found culpable received different punishments including, severe Reprimand, Reprimand and letter of warning.”

The PSC spokesperson said Hashimu Argungu, chairman of the commission, warned officers against indulging in civil matters.

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The Nigerian Police Force has said that most cases of missing young ladies and girls being used for ritual purposes in Nigeria are connected to the prevalent hookup culture sweeping across the country.

The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Omolola Odutola, who was a special guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, to discuss the topic ‘Hookup Culture: Impact on Youth Values and Relationships’, said young girls and ladies within the age range of 20 and 32 fall victim of the menace.

The Hookup culture encourages and accepts casual sexual encounters, such as one-night stands, without necessarily involving emotional bonding or long-term commitment.

The idea of casual, non-romantic sexual encounters has been around since the 1920s.

Some social critics argue that hooking up is a feminist achievement, while others worry that it is a step backwards for healthy, intimate relationships.

The hookup culture can also be gendered, with women being judged by a different standard than men. For example, women who hook up with too many people or go too far in the first hook-up are often judged by terms like “hoe”.

“This particular menace is very serious and I would like a lot of young people to understand the danger in the hookup culture.

“Today, we have lots of reports of missing persons. By the time we start an investigation, not less than 10 young girls and ladies go missing daily.

“In-depth investigations also reveal that those cases are not by accidents. Most of them are connected to hookup channels and apps. They fall victim to strangers who causally invite them to unknown places, and eventually fall victim to being used for ritual purposes,” she said.

She added that most young persons, especially males believe that ritual killings can make them get rich.

‘Most cases of missing girls and ritual killings occurring in Ogun state of recent, I would like to say that it is not new. But as much as possible, the Ogun state commissioner of police has been able to tame these ugly incidents.

It stems from the ugly perspective of young persons who believe that ritual killing could enrich them. We have some of these unscrupulous elements who deceive young people to get human skulls or human body parts, which they use for some kind of concoction to get them rich.

“That is why we are having advocacy and sensitization, to enlighten young persons to make them understand that engaging in ritual killings does not in any way make them rich,” she said.

According to her, the police command is working closely with the Women Affairs Commission of the state to stem the menace in the tide.

“The Ogun State government, particularly the Women Affairs Commission works in tandem with the police command by providing counselling sessions.

“Apart from that, whenever we have cases such as this if per adventure the girls escape the rituals, we also have a proper way of helping them go through the distress of mental health and anxiety they might have felt during the incident.

“The hookup culture is prevalent among young girls between the ages of 20 to about 32 years. The reason they get involved in this menace is because they feel they don’t get enough from their parents, and then the get-rich syndrome,” she said.

A Development expert, Dorothy Njemanze who also joined the conversation from Abuja, urged the Nigerian Police to provide full security and encourage the reporting culture to deal with the crime.

“A lot of the predatory trends that we see have existed in the society all along. But instead of tackling them headlong, we make excuses and try to guilt-trip people. If you stay in your house, harm can happen to you. You go out, harm can happen to you. A lot of healthy marriages in Nigeria happen through hookups. We are expected to meet people irrespective of how it happened, especially when we are adults.

“But my concern is that the predation system extends to children. A lot of children are being lured through the predation system. Every state needs to have a mandatory reporting system so that when suspicious movements are seen, such activities can be reported. And then for law enforcement, when people report things to you, and you are lax and expect people to write petitions and ply certain routes before you can take action, then there is a problem.

“The proactiveness of law enforcement agencies is what we bank on.

Bad people plan very well, to gain the trust of who they want to harm to minimise chances of their victims raising alarm for them to be caught.

“I heard the policewoman talking about people going to parties. And I also read about a lady killed by her pastor in the church. So it could be anybody.

“Whatever the dimension that bad people choose to operate, the law enforcement should be able to ready to swoop in and ensure that there is minimal to no damage done, and then the mandatory reporting culture of the society is one thing that can help to minimise these things.

“As long as we can’t control what adults do among each other, we can minimize such occurrences because the hookup culture affects both men and women, but more among the women. There is more pressure on men to have resources that can make them look like big men. But make sure as much as possible whenever you are going out, somebody knows where you are going,” she said.