Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have arrested no fewer than four suspects for allegedly killing a man identified as Paulinus Okon over N30million business deal in Delta State.

It was learnt that the deceased was earlier declared missing and was later beheaded on the 8th of September 2024 at Otokutu area of the state.

Paulinus’ body was said to have been thrown into the river, while one of the suspects, a herbalist, took the head and buried it at his shrine in Otokutu.

The state Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda during a press briefing on Monday, identified the suspects as Okeimute Gaga, Efe Onoitiyi, Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30yrs old herbalist known as Lawrence Joseph.

The statement reads in part; “It involves the murder of one Paulinus Okon ‘m’ by his bosom friend One Efe Onoetiyi. Paulinus was reported missing on 8/9/2024 by his brother after he went out with his friend Efe Onoitiyi ‘m’ age 30yrs.

“The suspect Efe Onoitiyi who initially denied knowing what happened to Paulinus came to Paulinus’s house to ask his family of Paulinus, he was confronted that the deceased went out with him on that same date which he denied that the deceased did not go out with him.

“On a later date, Efe came back and demanded Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000) from the deceased’s brother that he would use the money to pay a herbalist who can tell them Paulinus’s whereabouts.

“Efe again came and informed the family that Paulinus was kidnapped and he collected a ransom of about twenty million, seven hundred and fifteen thousand naira (N20,715,000) from the deceased brother claiming that he was in touch with the kidnappers. When it became obvious that Efe had something to hide, he was arrested and the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) State Headquarters, Asaba.

“On 28th November 2024, I directed the DPO Ekpan to take over the case and ensure that a discrete investigation is carried out to fish out those responsible as the main suspect Efe was not yielding.

“The DPO Ekpan carried out an intelligence led investigation that indicted one Okeimute Gaga ‘m’ aged 48yrs old. Okeimute gaga upon his arrest opened up and confessed that he could no longer hide what happened. Okeimute Gaga narrated how Efe brought Paulinus to Orere River in Otokutu and requested that they kill him.

“The suspect further stated that on the 8th of September 2024 himself, Efe and Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30yrs old herbalist known as Lawrence Joseph tied Paulinus Okon to a stake at night close to Orere River and beheaded him alive. His body was thrown into the river while the herbalist took the head of Paulinus and buried him at his shrine in Otokutu. The DPO Ekpan Police station led police operatives to the shrine in Otokutu where the skull of Paulinus was exhumed and recovered.

“During interrogation, Efe was asked why he killed his friend Paulinus, Efe stated that he saw a building for sale at a cost of thirty million naira (N30,000,000) which he advertised to the deceased and the deceased paid him Thirty Million Naira (N30,000,000) in three instalments, but instead of buying the house, he diverted the money for his personal use, bought two lands and was building a duplex for himself.

“He further stated that he did not know how to explain to the deceased that he had used his money hence he decided that killing him will save him the trouble. Efe and the three other suspects are in custody.”

A tragic plane crash in the city of Gramado, southern Brazil, has claimed the lives of ten family members of influential businessman, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi.

The crash involved a private plane piloted by Brazilian businessman Luiz Claudio Galeazzi. He, along with his wife, three daughters, and other family members, died in the crash, according to a statement from his company.

The small aircraft reportedly struck a building’s chimney, as well as a house and a shop, before crashing. Local authorities confirmed that 17 people on the ground were injured, with two in serious condition.

Mr. Galeazzi, 61, was reportedly taking his family on a trip to Jundiaí, São Paulo state. All ten victims were members of his family, as confirmed by the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite.

The plane had taken off in poor weather conditions. The aircraft flew for about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) before crashing into the urban area just minutes after takeoff on Sunday morning.

An eyewitness, Nadia Hansen, described hearing the plane revving up before it hit the building. “At the time, it was revving up. You could see that it was accelerating a lot,” Hansen said. “Then there was a bang as it hit the building and then it passed close to my house and then it fell, and I thought it had dropped in front of the house.”

Emergency workers were seen at the crash site, attending to the wreckage and debris from damaged buildings. Galeazzi was the CEO of Galeazzi & Associados, a corporate restructuring and crisis management firm based in São Paulo. His company expressed its condolences in a LinkedIn statement, honoring Galeazzi’s dedication to his family and his professional legacy.

The crash occurred near the center of Gramado, hitting a house, furniture store, and hotel. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa). Governor Leite assured that the state was mobilized to provide necessary assistance.

Gramado, a well-known tourist destination, has recently been hit hard by devastating flooding earlier this year, which caused extensive damage and displaced thousands of residents.

The Federal Government has allocated a total of N6,364,181,224 billion for the renovation and rehabilitation of the residential quarters of President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and some of their aides in the 2025 budget proposal.

Sunday PUNCH’s analysis of the proposed allocation, contained in the 2025 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly, showed that the annual maintenance of the Presidential Villa would gulp N5.49bn.

According to the proposed budget, N765m will be used for the renovation of the Vice President’s quarters and guest house.

The renovation of the president’s quarters at the State House will cost N6.39m, while the renovation of security quarters, auditorium, gymnasium and presidential aides’ quarters will cost N49m.

In addition, the renovation of Prescott barracks at Maple State House officers’ mess building and signal office in Asokoro, Abuja will cost N51m.

Further analysis of the budget revealed that Tinubu and his vice are also expected to have N87m as honorarium and sitting allowances, while N127m was allocated for the procurement of SUVs.

Also, N3.66bn was budgeted for the purchase of State House operational vehicles and N1,09bn will be spent on replacement of SUV vehicles at the State House.

Under the budget of the State House Lagos Liaison Office, there is an allocation of N14.72m for the routine maintenance of State House Lagos facilities (Dodan Barracks, Vice President guest houses at Ikoyi, among others).

Another N140.10m was allocated for the completion of renovation and furnishing of the State House annex (Dodan Barracks), Lagos.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government is planning to spend N1.83bn on converting forfeited properties from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission into State House quarters.

The plan to convert forfeited houses from the EFCC comes in the same month that the commission disclosed the recovery of an estate in the Lokogoma District of Abuja, measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 units of duplexes and other apartments.

The commission described this as its “single largest asset recovery” since its inception in 2003.

The estate rests on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09 of the district, and was forfeited in a ruling on Monday, December 2, 2024, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie.

(Punch)