News
Obaseki/Oba Of Benin’s Faceoff: Charges Against Palace Officials Withdrawn
The criminal charges preferred against the Secretary of the Benin Traditional Council (BTC), Frank Irabor, and six other palace officials by the Edo State Government have been withdrawn.
The move, it was gathered, was to douse the tension between Governor Godwin Obaseki and Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II.
Suing Irabor and others followed the August 2022 demolition of illegal property at Ulegun village in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo.
Obaseki’s administration, in August 2022, slammed a 29-count charge against Irabor and the other officials of the palace of the first-class monarch over the demolition of the disputed property.
The defendants were subsequently remanded in the custody of the correctional centre in Benin by Justice Mary Itsueli of Edo High Court in the state capital.
Edo Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Orobosa Okunbor, at the resumed hearing of the suit, applied to withdraw the case.
Okunbor told the presiding judge that discontinuing the suit was to ensure peace and reconciliation, an initiative of Edo Government, which he said had paid adequate compensation to the persons, whose livelihoods were impacted by the demolition.
Discontinuing the suit was after Irabor and other defendants in the suit, who were led in evidence by their counsel, Olayiwola Afolabi, SAN, and Okuns Aihie, had pleaded not guilty to the 29-count charge that were read to them in the court.
Irabor, in his reaction on behalf of the defendants, thanked Edo Government and Obaseki for deeming it fit to withdraw the case.
The secretary of BTC described Edo Governor’s intervention as a step in the right direction towards ensuring peace and reconciliation in Benin Kingdom’s Edo South Senatorial District, and other parts of the state.
According to him, such financial mishandling not only disrupts critical public services and projects but also results in major losses to the nation’s purse—resources that could have been channelled into crucial services and developmental efforts, as laid out in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.
Speaker Abbas, thereafter setup a Special Committee to be chaired by Rep. Chinedu Martins to immediately launch a probe into the “Utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs from 2015 to present.”
The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the progress on the Abuja light rail project, reaffirming its May 29 delivery as sacrosanct.
He made these assurances after inspecting the ongoing construction of access roads to the train stations on Wednesday, from Metro Train Station in the Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Reassuring journalists accompanying him, the minister reiterated that President Bola Tinubu would commission the rail project on May 29 to mark his second year in office.
The visited stations were Wupa station near Idu and Bassanjiwa station near the airport.
“This is part of our routine inspection of ongoing projects to see the contractors’ progress,” Wike explained.
“We are working day and night to fulfill our promise to President Tinubu and FCT residents. By May, Mr. President will ride on the Metro line.”
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are currently invading some communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to sources, the herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the community around 04:15pm on Thursday.
“Our lives are in danger this evening, armed Fulani herdsmen, about 600 in numbers have taken over our communities this evening,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
“They’re currently moving around towns in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue state. No security personnel at all, Governor Alia didn’t send security, they said operation will start soon once they (herders) have observed the place.”
The insecurity situation in Benue has been alarming in recent weeks with attacks from gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
The media had reported that suspected herdsmen again unleashed terror in Benue State, attacking three communities in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) on Wednesday, just a day after 11 people were killed in a deadly raid on Otobi community.
The latest victims of the escalating violence were Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju, communities that had previously suffered an attack in February, which left five people dead.
However, the renewed attack has created fear and mass displacement among residents, with women and children fleeing to safety.
Local sources say the death toll from the fresh attack remains unclear, but several casualties are feared.
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