Less than 11 days to the handing over to the Governor-elect, Sen. Monday Okpebholo, by the outgoing Governor Godwin Obaseki, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the State Accountant General, Mr. Julius O. Anelu, and four other officials said to be signatories to the state government accounts.

It was gathered that the five state government officials, reportedly arrested on Thursday, were being held at the Benin office of the agency.

It was also gathered that the officials were arrested apparently to forestall last minute withdrawal from the state account following thee budget allegedly approved by the Edo State House of Assembly about two weeks to the inauguration of the new government.

The source said with the arrest, government activities had been halted, as the state was unable to pay emoluments due to civil servants, pensions, and other public servants.

He added that other statutory payments such as security bills and other obligations were also affected.

According to the source, the commission intend to keep the arrested officials till November 12, when the tenure of the outgoing government would end.

When contacted, the EFCC spokesman in Edo State, Williams Oseghale, simply directed our reporter to the Commission’s Public Relations Officer, Dele Oyewale.

When contacted on the phone, Oyewale requested our correspondent to send a text message.

Text messages were sent to Oyewale’s WhatsApp number and his line as an SMS, but he was yet to respond as of the time of filing this report.

There was a drama at a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, as no fewer than four children, among the 76 defendants, billed for arraignment over their involvement in the August #EndBadGovernance protest held across the country, slumped during their trial.

Recall the protest, which began on Aug. 1 to demand for good governance, ended on Aug. 10.

The Inspector-General (I-G) of Police had, earlier charged 11 of the protesters before Justice Emeka Nwite of a sister court on alleged treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria, conspiracy to commit felony and inciting mutiny, among others, which are punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code.

The protesters were arrested in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Gombe over the 10-day protest which resulted in violence and killings in parts of the country.

However, when the matter was called on Friday, I-G’s lawyer, Audu Garba, informed the court that the matter was slated for arraignment of the 76 defendants, who had been in detention.

Shortly after they were called into the dock to take their plea, four of the children slumped in the open court.

The four of them were Usman Fatihu (21 years), Muhammed Yahaya (14 years), Muktar Ishak Alhassan (16 years) and Mustapha Ibrahim (18 years).

They are 68th, 74th, 75th, and76th defendants respectively in the 10-count charge bordering on treason, among other offences.

The trial judge, Obiora Egwuatu, abruptly stood down the trial and rose.

Justice Egwuatu came back after some minutes later to continue with the trial

No fewer than 14 passengers narrowly escaped death by a whisker while the driver sustained a minor injury when the bus they were travelling in suddenly went up in flames along the Old Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State.

Our correspondent gathered on Thursday that the incident, which happened on Wednesday, created panic and heavy gridlock on the bridge for several hours as passers-by and firefighters battled to quench the inferno.

The vehicle, a Toyota Hiace bus, was said to be heading to Asaba, Delta State when it suddenly caught up in flames in the middle of the bridge.

An eyewitness near the scene and trader in the area, who identified himself as Obiora Uzor, said the passengers had managed to jump out of the bus one after the other before the fire finally engulfed the whole vehicle.

Although no life was lost in the inferno, the eyewitness, however, noted that the driver was not lucky enough as he was affected by the flames, which started from the front of the vehicle.

“The bus suddenly went up in flames while in motion and caused panic on the bridge as the passengers struggled to escape having been caught up by the fire. No one knew the cause of the fire.

“It caused a heavy gridlock to and fro the bridge as motorists and other passersby were battling to extinguish the fire before the arrival of firefighters who later controlled the inferno,” the witness added.

When contacted, the Media and Publicity Unit of the Anambra State Fire Service, confirmed the incident, in a statement on Thursday.

The statement read, “The Anambra State Fire Service on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, received a distress alert at 0930 hours reporting of a vehicle (bus) engulfed by fire along the Bridge-head, Onitsha.

“A crew of firemen and firefighting equipment were immediately deployed to the rescue. They extinguished the fire and ensured that it did not affect other vehicles that were plying the bridge.

“The cause of the incident is unknown. No life was lost. The public was advised to alert the fire service in time whenever there is a fire incident and to install fire extinguishers in their vehicles. Remember, fire kills but, we can prevent it.”

It said the firefighters left the scene in the afternoon after extinguishing the fire.

Our correspondent, who visited the scene on Thursday evening observed that the vehicle, burnt beyond recognition, was still at the scene of the incident, but pushed to a corner at the bridge to prevent an obstruction of movement.

Ourheritagereporters