News
Three killed, Ondo Church Set Ablaze over Missing Child
Three persons lost their lives on Wednesday, while several others sustained varying degrees of injury when some youths set ablaze a popular church, Sotitobire Praising Chapel, at the Oshinle Quarter in Akure, Ondo State.
The incident followed the rumoured discovery of the corpse of one-year-old Gold Kolawole, who went missing from the children’s department of the church on November 10.
For several hours on Wednesday, social and economic activities were paralysed in the area following the violence.
Some houses and vehicles purportedly belonging to the church were also set on fire by the irate youths, while a police patrol vehicle was also vandalised.
One of the deceased victims was a policeman, whose identity had not been ascertained.
An eyewitness said, “Since the day the boy went missing, people had observed that the police were not doing any serious investigation on the matter. But when the youth in the area saw that a was programme going on in the church on Wednesday, they went there to challenge the worshippers.
“The worshippers resisted the youth, then a fight broke out and the policemen guarding the church attacked the protesters. The action of the police infuriated the youth and residents of the area, who mobilised more people and set the church and its belongings ablaze.”
The eyewitness added that while the protest was going on, a team of policemen arrived the scene and started shooting indiscriminately and stray bullets hit two of the youth, who died on the spot.
Journalists were also attacked by the worshippers, who destroyed their cameras and telephones. The attacked journalists were from the SaharaReporters, Breeze FM and Western Post Newspapers.
Gold disappeared from the church during a Sunday service last month and his whereabouts have remained unknown, with his parents alleging that the police were not conducting a proper investigation into the matter.
A source stated that the residents of the area got angry when some pastors of the church started the morning service on Wednesday.
They reportedly attacked the church and one of the policemen guarding the place of worship was mobbed.
The residents accused the church of not showing concern about the missing child.
It was also learnt that the pastor of the church, Prophet Alfa Babatunde, was in the custody of the Department of State Services in Akure, where he was being interrogated on the matter.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Femi Joseph, who confirmed the death of the policeman and one protester, said the command had drafted more personnel to restore normalcy in the area.
He stated, “We lost one of our men, while another one is critically injured and has been taken to hospital
“The church building was also set ablaze by the irate youth. Some of our officers despatched to the scene to contain the situation were pelted with stones, with many of them sustaining injuries. Their patrol vehicle was also badly damaged.
“The public should not be deceived by reports that the command has abandoned the investigation of the boy’s disappearance as the case file is already on the way to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the state for legal advice. Notwithstanding this latest incident, more reinforcement has been sent to the scene to contain the situation.”
The Punch
Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has reacted to her acquittal by a London court after bribery charges brought against her were dismissed.
The Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday acquitted the former minister of all charges, including five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Reacting to the judgment, Alison-Madueke expressed relief and said she and her family had endured years of emotional distress over the case.
Speaking to News Central, she said she has remained in the United Kingdom since the legal proceedings began 11 years ago.
She said: “I’m just thankful to God, it’s been arduous, almost 11 years. It’s been traumatic not just for me but for my family, friends, my 93-year-old mother in Port Harcourt and for my son.
“It has been a hard journey, but I tell you this, God will always do as He will. God will be God and God is not a man that He should lie; when He promises you something, He will see it through.
“For almost 11 years I have been here. I did my job to the best of my ability.”
The lawmaker representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), at the Senate, Ireti Kingibe, says she did not see any report that led to the suspension of Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Kingibe made this disclosure on Wednesday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.
She said she was at a retreat with Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, when she heard about the report.
“I never saw the report that led to Natasha’s suspension. I was at a retreat. I had earlier stated that I was there with three or four other senators who are members of the committee.
“We attended the Committee on Petitions and Public Complaints, signed the attendance register, and I later left for the tax reform retreat, which I considered more important at the time.
“It affects my constituents much more than disciplining a senator, and I figured that the other people who were not part of that committee would take care of it.
“I even complained to other Senators, specifically to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. I complained to him very bitterly that I had not seen that report. I didn’t see it then. I have not seen it till now,” she said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to stay the execution of the judgment that ordered the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.
The Commission also threw its weight behind a notice of appeal lodged by the political parties.
Addressing a three-member panel of the appellate court on Tuesday, the electoral body said it was shocked by the decision of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja to deliver the judgment despite an order that stopped him from doing so.
INEC, through its team of lawyers led by Mr. Haliru Mohammed, decried that it was not notified that the judgment would be delivered, saying it only heard about the court’s decision through media reports.
“My Lords, we are aware of an order that this court made on May 22, which stopped the delivery of the judgment of the lower court, which was initially reserved for delivery on June 5.
“We were not aware of any notice from the court regarding the delivery of the judgment. We only saw it as breaking news in the media.
“We therefore do not oppose the application of the appellant to stay the execution of the judgment.”
Likewise, counsel to the ADC, Mr. Shuaibu Aruwa, SAN, told the appellate court that Justice Lifu notified the party of the delivery of the judgment via WhatsApp.
Insisting that the decision of the high court was an invitation to anarchy, counsel to the ADC urged the appellate court to invoke its powers and sanction Justice Lifu for disrespecting the judicial hierarchy.
“Sincerely, my Lords, a lot has happened to the judiciary and this profession. What the trial judge did was dare this Court of Appeal by insisting that no one could arrest his judgment, even after his attention was drawn to the stay order from this court.
“The action of the trial judge calls for swift and extraordinary measures from this court. We have come to the stage where this court should press the reset button.
“We are calling on this court to exercise disciplinary jurisdiction under Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“We urge this court to take disciplinary steps by immediately suspending that judgment. This court has the power to protect its own integrity. We pray this court suspends the judgment immediately without further delay,” ADC’s lawyer submitted.
The other parties also drew the attention of the appellate court panel to the fact that on June 20, INEC would conduct by-elections across six states of the federation.
They contended that if the judgment were not stayed, it would create problems across the country, maintaining that the Court of Appeal has inherent powers to act in a supervisory capacity and not allow its orders to be disregarded by lower courts.
The appellate court is still hearing submissions from the other parties in the matter.
It will be recalled that aside from the ADC, the other parties the high court directed INEC to deregister are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
According to the court, the five political parties failed to meet the constitutional requirements to warrant their continued existence and participation in future elections.
It barred INEC from further according recognition to the parties, accepting nominations of candidates from the affected parties, or giving effect to their activities for the purpose of participating in the 2027 general elections.
Moreover, Justice Lifu ordered the defendants to stop parading themselves as registered political parties in the country.
He held that there was merit in a suit filed against them by the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL).
The group, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, prayed the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to remove political parties that fail to meet the electoral performance thresholds set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as reinforced by the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s regulations.
It was the position of the plaintiff that the five political parties listed as defendants had persistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration.
The former legislators stressed that the requirements include winning at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or securing at least one elective seat at the national, state, or local government level.
They told the court that the ADC and the four other parties performed poorly in both the 2023 general elections and by-elections conducted by INEC, thereby failing to win seats across key tiers of government.
