The Lumine News

Author: News

  • US Based Nigerian Doctor Shoots Wife, Commits Suicide

     

    A US based Nigerian medical doctor has shot his wife and thereafter turned the gun on himself.

    The incident happened in Texas, Saturday morning.

    The couple whose wife is a nurse are blessed with three children.

    No one could tell the reason for his action but this is how USA based veteran journalist Azuka Jebose reported the incident

    Morning Texas Tragedy

    At sunrise this cold Saturday, Dr. Ben Okigbo, a medical doctor in Houston, pulled up a handgun and fatally shot his wife.

    His wife was a nurse too. A few seconds later he turned the gun on himself.

    These hours their three children are dealing with the tragedy of losing their parents at home.

    We will never know why Dr. Okigbo, decided to kill his wife and commit suicide thereafter.

    It’s my understanding that Dr. Okigbo was originally from Idumuje Unor while his wife was from Akwukwu Igbo, both towns are in Delta State of Nigeria. copied

     

  • Dealing With #FakeNews From Government. By Agba Jalingo

     

    Government has been accusing citizens and the press of peddling “Fake News” and pushing multi-pronged efforts to suffocate channels of information dissemination.

    I agree,

    It is true that there is #FakeNews.

    It is true that individuals are peddling #FakeNews.

    It is true that the media is peddling #FakeNews

    It is also true that #FakeNews is doing incalculable damage not just to society but also to public trust in the media profession.

    It is also true that the media space needs to self-regulate to weed out #FakeNews.

    But there is one truth also that is missing from this whole gamut.

    That is, Government is the biggest peddler of #FakeNews.

    What effort is been made to ensure that #FakeNews from government is curbed?

    Who should be the fall guy or fall babe when government peddles #FakeNews?

    In the various #SocialMediaBills pushed around, what are the prescribed punishments for #FakeNews from government?

    Why does GOVERNMENT, who is arguably the biggest dispenser of #FakeNews, feel that it has a duty to control something it is as guilty of, as those it accuses?

    Let me give you some examples of what I am talking about.

    1. Every home in Nigeria got COVID 19 palliative – Humanitarian Affairs Minister. #FakeNews

    2. Only 10 Kankara school boys were abducted – Shehu Garba #FakeNews

    3. Boko Haram has been technically defeated – Buhari #FakeNews

    4. I have created 20,000 new jobs in Cross River civil service – Ayade #FakeNews

    5. Our government is doing everything to fight corruption – Buhari #FakeNews

    6. Fashola finds camera a #LekkiTollGate – #FakeNews

    7. Nobody died at #LekkiTollGate – FG
    #FakeNews

    8. Government is not fixing fuel prices, the sector has been deregulated – FG #FakeNews

    When all these offensive lies are dished out to the public by a government, who should be held accountable and with what legal instrument?

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo

  • If You Want To Win God’s Favour, Do Not Depend Too Much On Human Approval – Peter Abue

    FAVOUR
    Somewhere in the Bible, it says, “…God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34). Mary was humble, upright, and did what was acceptable in the sight of God. Hence, she was favoured by God through the angel, Gabriel (Luke 1:26-28). Through this divine favour to Mary came the incarnation or Christmas as we know it today and since then the world has not been the same again.

    David was another recipient of God’s favour; but because he failed to live a humble and upright life, God did not want David to build a house for him. Rather, God sent the Prophet, Nathan, to tell David that his son Solomon would be the one to build the temple and that his posterity will reign forever (2 Sam 7:1-16). The book of Chronicles gives the reason for the change in plans: You have shed much blood and you have waged great wars; you may not build a house in my honour, because you have shed too much blood upon the earth in my sight” (1 Chr. 22:8-10). Eventually, Nathan’s prophecy was fulfilled and a descendant of David who would reign forever; Jesus, the son of Mary, was born.

    The lesson here is that God uses upright and peaceful people to bless the world. Although David was favoured, he let himself be misused by men and so he lost his favoured position.
    God’s word is irrevocable. Sometimes, we wrongly think that we can buy favour from God or misuse God’s favour; we think that things will always remain the same. God’s favour is earned not negotiated. The greater lesson here is that God blesses human beings abundantly and can use us for divine things, but sometimes we mess up big time. Don’t be deceived by the way men run around you, to think you are favoured, so anything goes. No. Indeed, it’s not so. At the end of the day, the verdict of human beings may not necessarily be that of God.

    Mary earned God’s favour through her cooperation with the grace of God, which she fought to preserve. David, on the other hand, abused this favour through over-indulgence in his humanity. If you want to win God’s favour, do not depend too much on human approval, but always seek to know and do God’s will. Through you, God might choose to bless your family, your community, or the larger world like he did through Mary at the first Christmas. Remember, nothing is impossible with God, so gear yourself up and be ready for God’s favour this coming year. “Do not be afraid…You have found favour with God” (Luke 1:30).

    Rev. Fr. Dr. Peter Obele Abue

    Is the Vicar General of the Of the Catholic Diocese of Ogoja, and Parish Priest of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Igoli.

  • Asuquo Ekpenyong Foundation Facilitates CBN AGSMEIS Loan For 1,000 Cross Riverians

     

    Cross Riverians seeking capital to fund a business idea and money to expand an existing business now have a golden opportunity through the Asuquo Ekpenyong Foundation (AEF) in collaboration with the NIRSAL Bank’s approved Entrepreneurhip Development Institute, Moure Consult in the Agric Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme, AGSMEIS, established by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as an empowerment programme which also benefits all age categories willing to get into agriculture or any other small and medium scale business.

    This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of the Foundation, Mr Emmanuel.

    According to him Cross Riverians can access a soft loan facility to the tune of N10 million. The loan covers all categories of small and medium enterprises, yet the most interesting part is that the recipients have seven years to pay back the loan and at a concessionary five per cent (5%) interest rate. He commended the applicants for their coordination through out the training exercise while urging them to efficiently utilize the cash when it comes in.

    The Cross River State Commissioner of Finance, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong Jr the trustee of the foundation who closed the training said 1,000 Cross Riverians will benefit from the first phase of the loan.

    He revealed that all that is required is for interested persons to apply and attend the 3 day training for free as the foundation have paid the training fees for all trainees which also covers lunch for the training days, venue and resource persons as well as facilitation fees for application assistance as well as business plan development to facilitate access to the grants.

    He said selection process was done by the Consultants who made open the applications to everyone across the 18 LGAs of CRS without interference from any Political class.

    Mr Ekpenyong poured encomium on the participants and prospective beneficiaries for taking the training very serious and making Cross River State a shining star among other states.

    Asuquo said “give a man a fish and he will feed his family for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will feed his family in perpetuity”

    Speaking with newsmen, the Chief Facilitator of the training, Mr Omotayo Omolade said the Entrepreneurship Training programme has been designed to take your business to greater heights, and if you’re a start-up, the information you’ll get will give you a very comfortable footing to start your business. So, you have no reason to miss this great opportunity.”

    The Lead Facilitator from Moure Consult, Mr Muhammed Tahir disclosed that many Nigerians are already benefiting from the loan facility while lauding the Cross River participants to have been the most well behaved and well coordinated across the country so far.

    Highlight of the event was presentation of Certificates to trainees by the Honorable Commissioner For Finance, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong.

  • Court Of Appeal Declares Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe PDP Senatorial Candidate For Cross River North

     

    The battle for the Cross River North Senatorial seat which was won by the Peoples Democratic Party at the December 5, rescheduled elections has taken a different twit 24 hours after Dr. Stephen Odey was sworn in by the Clerk of the Senate.

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has just declared Hon. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe as the duly nominated candidate of the PDP and the rightful winner of the election against Dr. Odey who was declared by INEC and sworn in by the Senate.

    The Court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to immediately issue a Certificate of Return to Hon. Jarigbe and withdraw the one earlier issued to Dr. Stephen Odey.

    In its unanimous judgment, the court of Appeal upheld the judgment of the trial court that the primaries which produced Jarigbe was conducted with the correct and authentic list of delegates and that Hon Jarigbe having scored the highest number of valid votes in the primary election is the validly nominated candidate of the PDP.

    The Appeal Court also upheld the position of the Federal High Court that the primary election was duly monitored by the INEC in line with the law hence was a valid primary election of the PDP.

    This judgment has abruptly halted the seeming advantage Dr. Stephen Odey got yesterday when he was invited by the Clerk of the Senate to take his oath of office and allegiance. This is despite another order of the FCT High Court which restrained the Senate from swearing Dr. Odey in as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    By this judgment and until the Supreme Court gives its final judgment, Hon. Jarigbe is expected to be sworn in immediately to sit to represent the good people of Cross River North Senatorial District.

  • Operation Akpakwu Begins Demolition Of Kidnappers Abode In The State.

     

    The State Government’s recently launched joint task force operations, codenamed OP AKPAKWU had long begun a state-wide manhunt for kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal collaborators in the State with tangible success reports made as multiple arrest have been recorded so far.

    As part of it’s mandate under the State Anti-Cultism and Kidnapping Law which gives clear authority for the demolition of properties owned by kidnappers or used for such activities, the operation had begun demolition of such properties in the State.

    Yesterday at Asanbanca in Akpabuyo Local Government, the team led by the four (4) State Security Advisers who had previously clamped a kidnap kingpin in Calabar, supervised the demolition of a said property owned by him.

    Recall that the Governor of the State, Sen. Ben Ayade had issued an ultimatum to kidnappers and criminal elements to either relocate or face the drum, mandating the OP AKPAKWU not to spare anyone caught in the web of these activities.

    Speaking to the Warden, a resident in Asanbanca community who pleaded anonymity said, “we are beginning to see the changes and we encourage the team not to bow to pressure or compromise”

     

  • Rt. Hon. Hilary Bisong Commends Sen. Gershom Bassey For Ekpugrinya Junction- Okundi Road Maintenance

     

    The member representing Boki II State Constituency in the Cross River House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Hilary Bisong, has commended the Senator representing Cross River Southern Senatorial District, Gershom Bassey, for the ongoing rehabilitation of the Ekpugrinya-Okundi highway in Cross River State.

    Bisong, who commended the National Assembly member for capturing the road in the National Budget, said that the maintenance will drive economic development in the area.

    According to him, Sen. Bassey, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), had shown capacity in community development through road infrastructure.

    “I want to specially thank Sen. Gershom Bassey for capturing the Ekpugrinya-Okundi highway in the National Budget on my request.

    “I made a passionate appeal to him when I visited him in his office last year concerning the road and he assured me that the road will be captured for maintenance.

    “Today, massive work is ongoing on that road and the good people of Boki are very happy with his kind gesture.

    “Senator Bassey has shown enormous capacity and utmost desire for road infrastructure in the state,” he said.

  • CRSPHCDA Commences Personnel Audit For Environmental Health Officers

     

    The Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency has commenced verification exercise for environmental health officers in the state as a means of boosting and optimizing the services of the unit in the state.

    Addressing the workers at the Agency’s Head office in calabar, the Director General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong urged the workers to cooperate with the screening committee in order to achieve the desired aim of the exercise.

    The DG who was represented by the Director of Administration Barrister John Odu said, the aim of the exercise is to create a unified system where all environmental health officers in the state can be in cooperated in line with the laws guiding their system of operation.

    Barrister Odu said, the agency having the mandate to provide quality healthcare to 70% of Cross Riverians across the state, can only function effectively if all staff are brought under one control system where regulation of their duties will be ensured and their duties discharged without compromise.

    The verification exercise is expected to be done in all three Senatorial districts of the state with screening centres in Ikom to cover the central Senatorial District and Ogoja for those in the Northern Senatorial District.

    Some of the documents expected to be presented to the panel by the officers includes:

    Original and photocopies of their credentials.

    Evidence of registration and licence with EHORECON.

    Two recent passport photograph in two separate files.

    Evidence of payment of dues 2019-2020 and must appear in their complete uniforms for identification.

    Currently, there are 150 Environmental Health workers under the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency offering services to citizens and residents including;

    1. Environmental health control of housing/sanitation

    2. Waste management

    3. Food hygiene/ control

    3. Pest/vector control

    4. water hygiene and sanitation

    5. School health services

    6. Occupational health and safety

    7. Epidemiological investigation/control

    8. Protection of recreational environment

    9. EHIA

    10. Promotion and enforcement of environmental health quality standard

    11. Pollution control and abatement.

  • Court Of Appeal Nullifies Metuh’s Conviction, Says Justice Okon Abang Was Bias

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday nullified the conviction and seven years jail term on a former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, after finding him guilty of money laundering charges.

    A three-man panel led by Justice Stephen Adah in a unanimous judgment held that the proceedings of the Federal High Court leading to the conviction of Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Limited, were marred with bias, and should not be allowed to stand.

    Justice Adah stated that Justice Okon Abang, who delivered the lead judgment, was biased against the convicts from his utterances.

    He, therefore, directed that the case file be sent back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge other than Justice Abang.

    Justice Abang had in his judgment delivered on February 25, 2020, sentenced Metuh to seven years in prison. This was after he was found guilty of count one, two and three of the seven-count charge levelled against him and his company by the Federal Government.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had instituted the charge against Metuh and his company for alleged money laundering to the tune of N400 million.

    Ruling on the first count charge, Justice Abang held that the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, unlawfully transferred the N400 million to the defendants in November 2014.

    The judge maintained that Metuh and his firm reasonably ought to have known that the N400 million paid to them formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activity of the former NSA since they had no form of contractual

  • Suspected Herdsmen Kills Lawyer And His Pregnant Wife In Benue

    Culled from Igbere TV

    A popular Benue lawyer, human rights activist, Moses Udam and his pregnant wife have been brutally murdered by unknown men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

    Barrister Udam, who is a Managing Partner at Orkar, Udam and Associates (Attorneys and Legal Consultants), was killed alongside his wife, Nkechi, at Agboughul area of Makurdi on Tuesday night, December 15.

    It was gathered that the attackers stormed their residence in the middle of the night while they were asleep and slaughtered them.

    A third person identified as elder Nyikyor Mazugu was also murdered while three people are being treated for severe injuries sustained during the attack.

    Governor Samuel Ortom, who confirmed the incident on Wednesday, says Benue State under his watch will not succumb to attacks by ”terrorists whether they are jihadists or militia herders whose sole target is occupation of the state and destruction of lives and property.”

    He stated that the pattern of the attack and killings barely four days after a similar incident at Tse-Angbande was unfortunate and bore the handwriting of mindless jihadists who had set out to overrun the state.

    The Governor noted that the series of attacks were a grand plan to whittle down operations of Livestock Guards and Agro Rangers who are doing very well in containing attacks on communities and enforcing the ranching law of the state.

    Ortom lamented that developed climes globally with higher number of cattle compared to Nigeria have no cases of conflicts between herders and farmers due to ranching which is also being practiced in Benue, stressing that he would continue to speak against impunity in the country.

    Udam had in 2015 contested for Makurdi Local Government Chairmanship seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.