By Francesca Hangeior

A woman’s corpse has been lying by the roadside along Wurukum-Akpehe Road for the past two days without removal.

Despite reports that the relevant authorities were contacted, no action has been taken so far.

The decaying body according to report is now emitting a strong odor, posing a potential health risk to the general public, especially to shop owners and residents in the vicinity.

Speaking on the development, road users called on the authorities to do the needful

Accodding to them, “It is crucial that the responsible authorities urgently address this situation to prevent further health hazards and restore safety to the area”.

By Francesca Hangeior

Head of Media and Publicity for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
Dele Oyewale, has clarified that the anti-graft agency has no interest in a witness of the Edo State governorship election petitions tribunal unless there is a corruption issue.

Oyewale’s statement, made on Wednesday, came in response to a viral video alleging that EFCC operatives had raided a hotel in Benin to arrest Dr. Asue Ighodalo, a witness for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the September 21, 2024 Edo State election.

The spokesman of EFCC said: “The attention of the EFCC has been drawn to a trending video insinuating that Mr. Jonathan Okunbor, a suspect being investigated for an alleged N6 billion fraud, was an election witness.  

“The commission wishes to state without any equivocation that Okunbor is not a witness of the PDP in the election tribunal, as claimed by Mr. Asue Ighodalo. Rather, he (Okunbor) is a prime suspect connected to a case of misappropriation of funds involving all the 18 local government areas of Edo State.

“Ongoing investigations showed that about N6 billion was diverted to Kezmith Global Ventures, owned by Ogunbor.  The suspect was running the ventures using the name and identity of Mr. Godfrey Emode. 

“The commission’s investigators, in their quest to unearth the shadiness of Ogunbor, arrested Emode, who led them to the suspect in Eterno Hotel, Benin City, where a pre-trial meeting was being held.

“Investigators interrogated  the counsel to Ighodalo on the status of Ogunbor in the election tribunal matters and he clearly stated that he was not a witness in the matter.   

“In spite of this, Mr. Ighodalo and his co-travellers at Eterno Hotel prevented EFCC officers from carrying out their constitutional duty and obstructed them from arresting Ogunbor. Specifically, Ighodalo insisted that Ogunbor was his witness, when it was obvious that he only wanted to aid his escape from the commission’s investigators.

“The EFCC remains committed to its adherence to the rule of law and the commission has no business with any Edo State election witness that has no corruption charge before it.  The EFCC will not hesitate to bring anyone to trial, witness or no witness, if it has a basis for doing so.”

Oyewale assured members of the public that Ogunbor would be brought to book soon, in connection with the alleged N6 billion fraud involving his firm,  Kezmith Global Ventures.

By Francesca Hangeior

A 76-year-old military veteran, Colonel Nasiru Salami (retd.) has expressed worry over the ill-treatment given to retirees of the Nigerian Army by military authorities.

The septuagenarian who was was a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on the occasion of the 2025 Armed Forces’ Remembrance Day on Wednesday, complained about his unpaid pension and other post-retirement packages.

“We are asking for war bonus, those of us who fought the war. I retired in December 1983 and they promised us heaven and earth that they would give us our war bonus but up till now, we have not seen it,” he said, appealing to the government to do the needful and improve the welfare of him and his colleagues.

Salami said the Nigerian Legion in Lagos has over 24,000 members and that the Nigerian government was yet to pay him and his civil war survivors war bonuses over 50 years after.

The 76-year-old civil war veteran however, stated that he won’t encourage any of his children to join the Nigerian Army.

“For now, I will never recommend any of my children to join the Nigerian Army,” he said.

“I am their father and they are seeing me now that my life is not to their expectation. They would want me to be higher than this, full of joy and other things that would make them happy. How would I now encourage them to join the army?

“I have two graduates now and I said to them: ‘Never you think of going to join the army. If you want to join, maybe the Navy or the Air Force. I’ve not been there but I’ve been seeing them and I’ve been hearing about them because they are treated better.”

In a touching narration, he chronicled his voyage in the military right from his enlistment into the Nigerian Army in October 1967 to when he was moved straight to the battlefield for the Biafra war just after six weeks of training.

Salami, who is now the Secretary of the Nigerian Legion, Lagos Chapter, said he was on the battlefield for 11 months during the civil war between 1967 and 1970.

He also recounted painfully how he almost lost his right foot during the war, adding that plastic materials were embedded in the foot to augment the severe injury he suffered during the war

He said he went back to the war front to continue the war.