By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

An unidentified boyfriend of a graduate of Lagos State University identified simply as Adija has ‘vanished’ after his girlfriend was found dead in his apartment located in the Meiran area of the state.

It was gathered on Sunday that the incident occurred on February 26 when the lady visited her boyfriend following his request.

An Instagram user, @Eyeopener, who shared details of the incident in a post, disclosed that Adija’s family became concerned when she did not pick up her calls prompting them to check on her at her boyfriend’s place as she had notified them of her destination.

The user narrated that upon getting to the apartment, the door was locked and they broke it to gain entrance where they discovered Adija’s lifeless body.

@Eyeopener wrote, “The couple had been dating since her 100-level days, and their relationship had always been toxic. The victim, whose parents reside in Ketu, often spent weekdays at her boyfriend’s place, only going home on weekends.

“On Wednesday night, around 8:30 pm, she received a call from him and went to see him. However, by the next morning, her phone kept ringing with no response. Concerned about her whereabouts, her family, knowing she was likely at her boyfriend’s house, went to check on her.

“Upon arrival, they found the door locked. When they finally managed to force it open, they were met with a tragic sight – her lifeless body on the bed, covered with a duvet.”

@Eyeopener added that neighbours noted that they heard noise from the apartment but did not bother to check on them because it had become a recurring noise.

“Neighbours reported hearing her voice on Wednesday night but did not intervene, as fights between the couple were frequent. It wasn’t until the tragic discovery that they realised the worst had happened. Meanwhile, the boyfriend has since absconded.”

When our correspondent reached out to Adija’s family on Sunday, they declined to comment on the matter at that moment.

The victim’s sister, who chose to remain unnamed, in a telephone conversation revealed that the family would speak with the press at an appropriate time.

Meanwhile, a close relative of the family, identified as Tosin, told our correspondent in an exclusive conversation on Sunday that Adija’s mother was a single mum who had been solely responsible for raising and educating her children.

Tosin said, “The woman suffered so much raising them. She’s a single mum, and the lady in question was an easy-going person.

“Some days ago, I heard that the guy was calling the mother, saying he’s also ready to die.”

Confirming the incident in a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the police were making efforts to arrest the suspect.

Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the suspect,” Hundeyin said in a terse message.

PUNCH Metro also reported on Friday that the Ogun State Police Command launched a manhunt for a man simply identified as Oju, from Calabar, Cross River, who reportedly stabbed his 36-year-old wife, Josephine Isaac, to death in the Agbure community, Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state.

The spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, disclosed that one Blessing Isaac, the younger sister of the deceased, reported the tragic incident to the Abigi Police Division on Thursday at about 9:30 am.

Blessing reportedly informed the police that, at about 1 am on Thursday, Josephine, who was married to the suspect, had a violent dispute with him. In the process, he allegedly stabbed his wife multiple times in the neck, leaving her dead.

Punch

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Chimezie Uzoukwu, a travel agent, has accused Air Peace of trying to rip him off by withholding two-thirds of the money he paid for a flight that the airline cancelled.

Uzoukwu told FIJ that he had repeatedly requested a refund through Wakanow, the agency he used to book the flight, but Air Peace did not respond until Thursday when they offered to refund only N500,000.

The travel agent said he booked a Lagos–Johannesburg ticket worth N1,557,836 on January 11 for a client through Wakanow. However, his client was unable to use the ticket because the airline cancelled the flight a few days before departure.

He said the cancellation left his client stranded in Lagos, where they had travelled to catch an international flight. To salvage the situation, Uzoukwu booked another flight with his money while simultaneously processing a refund with Air Peace.

Uzoukwu said Wakanow informed him that the airline would ascertain the refund value within a few days and that the refund process itself would take another four weeks. However, after four weeks, Air Peace still had not refunded him.

“I kept sending messages. I called, but there was no response. When I contacted Wakanow, they said Air Peace had yet to ascertain the refund value and, therefore, had not refunded them on my behalf,” Uzoukwu told FIJ.

The travel agent said that on March 6, nearly two months after the cancellation, Wakanow informed him that Air Peace had decided to refund only N500,000.

“I didn’t agree to that. They want to rip me off by keeping two-thirds of my original payment. I told Air Peace the last time I spoke to them over the phone that I would go public if they didn’t refund me. They said I should wait until next week for them to rectify it. This is the third time Air Peace has done this to me,” Uzoukwu explained.

“The way Air Peace handled the issue caused additional hardship for my client. After the cancellation, they offered to reroute him through RwandAir, but the plan failed because RwandAir has a policy of not flying passengers who do not have a return ticket with them. Air Peace was aware of this policy yet still offered the reroute.”

Comrade Prince Saviour Iche expresses concern over the period of suspension given to Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by the approval of the Senate President Godswill Akpabio; says the Senate has misrepresented the law they make if allegations such as sexual harassment can be suppressed rather than addressed.

Iche said he is particularly disappointed at the activities of some of the elected lawmakers. That a verbal confrontation from Natasha, who felt wronged by the indecent actions of the senate president towards her, has received backlash from her colleagues, who should have been in the best position to propose an inquest into the sexual harassment allegations.

Iche said,

“I have a big concern about the activities of the acclaimed lawmakers; some members of the House of Senate are not upright lawmakers but rather should be named lawbreakers; they ought to have known that there is a court injunction restricting the Senate from probing Natasha further but chose to ignore the law they must abide by, bending the laws to suit their purpose.”

“A committee was set up to address the situation within the Senate; out of 32 lawmakers, 13 of them didn’t sign authorization for suspension, and concerns have been raised about the apparent rush by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, chaired by Senator Neda Imaseun (LP, Edo South), in handling the case.”

“Meanwhile, the committee had initially scheduled the hearing for Tuesday, March 11, only for it to be abruptly rescheduled. Why didn’t the committee wait? The absence of ranking senators from the process shows we knew where it was heading,” as said by a senator who chose to remain anonymous. He said a few others went behind the other 31 prominent senators and dishonorably signed and imposed a 6-month suspension on Natasha with seized salaries and other privileges.”

“If our laws are binding, the senators who authorized that suspension would have been under investigation and arrest by now because this is a slap on the judiciary; the senators, instead of maintaining the laws of the land, are rather breaking the law.”

“When Natasha was ready with her petition, she submitted the petition to the senate president. If Nigeria is a country where things are done rightly, Akpabio will step aside for a neutral body to preside over Natasha’s application or petition, not the alleged (Godswill Akpabio). Is Akpabio now the judge over his own issue? What a government!!!!”

“Still on the issue of suspension, why was she given a six-month suspension with salary and privileges withdrawn? What’s her offense? As a wife and mother, will Natasha lay allegations without an iota of truth? Remember that this same Akpabio had a case of sexual harassment in 2020 by someone else. The senate president and his cohort of lawbreakers in the senate should resign and let Natasha be. Natasha’s case should never be swept under the carpet, for there is always Karma.”

“It is important that the human rights body challenge the abnormality in the Senate that we’ve seen so far. We know what our women go through in their primary place of assignments, especially in the government and educational sectors. Not addressing Natasha’s issue appropriately simply means women have no immunity at all and are susceptible to underhanded treatment. Natasha’s punishment has become a reference point to further silence women. No! We have to challenge it.”

“What have Nigerians benefitted from the essence of appointing senators? Only a few of these senators live up to standard in developing their communities; when anti-people’s policies created by the government set in, the senators will not challenge these policies head-on; they seldom check and balance the government’s excesses.”

In conclusion, Iche said as a human rights advocate, it is an error to see one’s rights trampled upon without being their voice. He said if truly this matter with Natasha and Akpabio is suppressed, it means that the Nigerian judiciary is now silencing the voice of Nigerian women. It’s high time all human rights groups come out in unison to challenge the lawbreakers in the Senate.