General
Lagos Banker Pays Assassins To Kill Husband
By Dipo Olowookere
Police in Ogun State have paraded a female banker identified as Mrs Oluchi Tochukwu, who allegedly hired assassins to eliminate her estranged husband, Mr Tochukwu Onyebuchi, who she married over two years ago.
It was learnt that the suspected killers had stormed the residence of their victim in Ayobo area of Lagos State, inflicting deep cut injuries on his head with cutlasses, pouring acid on him and then leaving with his Range Rover SUV.
Addressing newsmen on Wednesday while parading the woman and the suspected assassins, Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ahmed Iliyasu, said the suspects were intercepted and arrested on October 19, 2016, at Ijebu-Ode while attempting to escape to Onitsha with the vehicle.
He gave the names of the other suspects as Mr Chigozie Smart (32) and Mr Kingsley Ikechukwu (36).
“One Oluchi, a 32-year-old banker, who is married to one Tochukwu Onyebuchi years ago, got separated from her husband following some matrimonial problems.
“The custody of their only child is currently being contested in the court but Oluchi has another plan.
“She connived with the trio of Chigozie Smart, Kingsley Ikechukwy and one other who is now at large to eliminate her husband.
“She arranged for the weapons which includes cutlass, iron rods and acid which she kept in her husband’s compound at Ayobo area of Lagos State and described where she kept it to the assailants.
“The suspects went there on Wednesday as planned and matcheted the man severally on his head and poured the acid on him.
“The suspects thereafter abandoned the victim and took away his range Rover Jeep which Oluchi instructed them to drop at her brother’s place in Onitsha, Anambra State.
“Luck ran against them when a patrol team of the Ogun State command on Wednesday sighted the vehicle along the Ijebu-Ode/Benin expressway and stopped it for search.
“While searching the vehicle, blood stain was seen and the two occupants were unable to give satisfactory account of the blood stain, hence, they were arrested.
“It was during interrogation that the suspects revealed all that transpired to the police,” the police chief in Ogun State said.
But the banker claimed she never contracted the other suspects to kill her husband, saying she had no reason to kill him.
Meanwhile, Mr Iliyasu said that the victim, who had been treated at an undisclosed hospital, was in the custody of the police helping them in the process of investigation.
He said the suspects would soon be charged to court after the conclusion of investigation.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The office of the president-elect has confirmed that Mr Bola Tinubu has jetted out of Nigeria for a rest in the United Kingdom and France ahead of his swearing-in ceremony slated for May 29, 2023.
An online platform on Wednesday reported that the winner of the February 25 presidential election travelled to Europe for urgent medical attention.
But in a statement issued by one of his aides, Mr Tunde Rahman, it was emphasized that the former Governor of Lagos State only left the country to have a rest in London and Paris before going to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.
It was disclosed that Mr Tinubu travelled out of Nigeria on Tuesday night via the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
“After a very exhaustive campaign and election season, President-elect, Asíwájú Bola Tinubu, has travelled abroad to rest and plan his transition programme ahead of May 29, 2023 inauguration.
“The President-elect left the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, for Europe on Tuesday night.
“The President-elect decided to take a break after the hectic campaign and election season to rest in Paris and London, preparatory to going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj) and the Ramadan Fasting that begins Thursday.
“While away, the President-elect will also use the opportunity to plan his transition programme.
“He is expected back in the country soon.
“We enjoin the media to stop publishing rumours and unsubstantiated claims and to always seek clarifications from our office,” the statement said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The candidate of the Labour Party in the governorship election in Abia State, Mr Alex Otti, has been declared as the winner of the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The former banker polled a total of 175,467 votes to defeat his closest rival in the poll, Mr Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 88,529 votes.
The Abia State governorship election was earlier declared inconclusive by the electoral umpire due to issues arising from over-voting. The collation centre had to be moved to Abuja from Umuahia, the state capital.
The governor-elect, in a short post via his verified Twitter handle, reacted to the development by saying, “See what the Lord has done.”
Mr Otti left the banking industry a few years ago after serving as the managing director of the defunct Diamond Bank, which merged with Access Bank. He left his office in the bank to pursue his political ambition in 2015, but he failed until he succeeded in 2023.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed public sector workers in the country to embark on strike beginning from Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
President of the union, Mr Joe Ajaero, gave this directive at a media briefing at Labour House in Abuja on Wednesday, March 22.
He also directed affiliate unions of the NLC to be on standby for a picketing exercise across all branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nationwide.
The union leader said the directive became imperative following the expiration of a one-week ultimatum given to the apex bank to make cash available for Nigerians.
The scarcity has heightened with plans by the central bank to mop up the old Naira in circulation. The apex bank recently said it had removed N2.3 trillion from circulation between October 2022 and February 2023 while printing fewer new notes.
Business Post reported that between October last year and February 2023, the cash in circulation dropped to N982.09 billion from N3.29 trillion.
This is one of the factors that has extended the scarcity of the Naira and have also prolonged it into March.
Despite the Supreme Court judgement on March 3, 2023, that the old Naira remain legal until December 31, 2023, new notes have not reached many households with the old notes and new notes difficult to acquire.
With the cash in circulation dropping and the currency in commercial banks’ vaults or that of the CBN rising, Nigerians still find it difficult to access the money deposited in their accounts despite the ruling that the new and old notes should co-exist for 10 months.
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