By Jude Michael
Police in Anambra State have arrested the owner of a brothel in Awka, the state capital, which uses underage girls as sex workers.
DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Anambra State Police Command’s image maker, stated this in a press release, adding that nine girls who were found in the brothel had been rescued and would be taken care of by the state government, before being repatriation to their states of origin.
Ikenga said the girls who were between 15 and 23 years were lured to Awka for the job by the proprietor of the brothel, with some money to take care of their parents in the village.
They were said to have been lured from various states such as Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States.
The press release read in part: “Following the information received from the Anambra State Ministry of Women’s and Social Welfare, 18/6/2023 by 6:00 pm, police operatives stormed a hotel in Awka and rescued 9 girls within the age bracket of 15-23 years, used as sex slaves, and arrested the proprietor of the hotel.
“Interrogations/confessions of the rescued girls, revealed that the respective persons that brought them to the brothel lured/enticed them on the assurances of giving them jobs to alleviate poverty/needs of their parents and dependents. They further confessed to being taken from Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom, and Rivers States.
“The Police Command is in collaboration with the Anambra State Ministry of Women’s and Social Welfare to make sure the girls are taken care of and safely returned to their parents/guardians.”
The command called on members of society to reveal such other places to it to ensure prompt arrests, saying that experience had shown that criminal elements usually took refuge in such brothels too.
Anambra Govt Warns against Stealing, Vandalization of Streetlights
… Vows to Arrest Offenders
By Jude Michael
The Anambra State Government has warned against the steady stealing and vandalisation of its solar-powered streetlights.
A release by Sir Paul Nwosu, Commissioner for Information, stated that the installations were part of Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s efforts to achieve a livable Anambra, noting that the streetlights illuminated various areas at night.
He said, ‘We discovered that the cables and accessories of the new cost-saving Solar Street Lights being installed to illuminate our roads and streets are being stolen and vandalized by some enemies of the progress of the state
‘This can no longer be tolerated. The Street Lights Monitoring Committees set up by the Ministry of Power and Water Resources are hereby directed by the Government to be more vigilant and firm in the exercise of their responsibilities which is to protect and apprehend these culprits.’
Nwosu also noted that most drivers knocked down the streetlights out of careless driving and ignored them, knowing they were installed with tax payers’ money.
‘Government is calling on the local Street Light Monitoring Committees and the community leaders to take full ownership of these assets and guard them with eagle eyes.
‘Anybody caught pilfering or destroying the street solar lights cables or accessories should be immediately apprehended and handed over to the police,’ he stated, while also urging the police to join in ensuring the arrest of the vandals.
‘Anambra State can only make the needed progress if these retrogressive elements are put in check,’ he said.
Group Faults Arrest of Emefiele, Says Tinubu Lacks Powers
By Jude Michael
A group, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, has faulted the arrest and detention of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, saying that President Bola Tinubu lacks the power to summarily suspend him.
The group which is an umbrella body of all youth groups in the Southeast, in a press statement by its President General, Mr Goodluck Ibem, called for Emefiele’s release.
He said: ‘The suspension by Mr Godwin Emefiele by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is without following the constitutional process or the act establishing the bankers Bank (CBN).
‘The CBN is a creation of the law and not a body created by one man which President Bola Tinubu is trying to make us believe. The suspension of Emefiele by President Tinubu and his unlawful detention by the DSS operating on the orders of the President is the height of impunity and executive lawlessness.’
The group said there were laid down procedures for removing a CBN governor and that such procedures were not followed, stating that Tinubu unilaterally removed Emefiele in a manner that did not align with the law.
It said the reason Tinubu was after Emefiele was primarily because of the Naira redesign policy, which, they said, cost Tinubu his victory in Lagos during the presidential election.
‘CBN Governors have the number of years for them to serve as stipulated by the CBN Act and anything to the contrary is totally unacceptable. The President is not constitutionally empowered to suspend or remove any CBN Governor at will.
‘If that happens, it means he can tell the Governor to print any amount of money for him which is grossly inappropriate and unconstitutional. The National Assembly should stand up and live up to her expectations of checkmating the excesses of the executive.
‘We therefore demand for the immediate release of the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, and his subsequent reinstatement as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,’ the group stated.
Ekwulobia: IPMAN Demands Compensation to 13 Filling Stations Marked for Demolition
By Jude Michael
Following the planned demolition of 13 Filling Stations at Ekwuluobia, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to compensate adequately, the owners of the 13 functional filling stations in the area.
The proposed demolition of 13 functional filling stations, according to the Anambra State Government, was to make way for the construction of a flyover in the Ekwulobia area of Anambra State.
The marketers, in a letter signed by Chinedu Anyaso, chairman of IPMAN, Enugu Community Depot in charge of the Southeast Zone, called on Gov Soludo to resolve the issue amicably.
He said the marketers that would be affected had expressed worries over the planned demolition of their premises without any compensation plan by the government.
According to Anyaso, the filing stations; Matino Oil, and Ngozi Petroleum, are on Orlu Road, Ekwulobia; while Pap Oil, Evkkins Oil, Ernmaco Petroleum, Narco Oil, and NIPCO, are all located along Awka Road, Ekwulobia.
Others are Jolet Oil, Best Abino Oil, God’s Decision Oil, and Hachele Petrogas, located along Igboukwu Road, Ekwulobia; as well as Narco Oil and God’s Decision Oil, sited along Oko Road in the same area.
The IPMAN chairman begged the government not to push members out of their businesses and means of livelihood, adding that the marketers were in full support of Soludo’s infrastructural transformation agenda, including the flyover project, because of its attendant benefits.
‘Our members in Ekwulobia axis have made official reports to our NEC through the zonal office in respect of the proposed Ekwulobia Flyover which will adversely affect their means of livelihood.
‘About 13 of their operational filling stations with current documents have been marked out for demolition.
‘As a body, we appreciate every move towards infrastructural development and applaud the giant strides of the governor in that respect.
‘But we also want you to understand that most of our members that are affected by the proposed project rely heavily on those outlets as their means of survival and sustenance to their families and other dependents,’ he said.
Ayanso said IPMAN would like to schedule a meeting with the governor on how to resettle the displaced members.
Meanwhile, the Anambra Government said the construction of the Ekwulobia Flyover had been awarded and would soon commence.
In an official statement signed by Paul Nwosu, Commissioner for Information, the government asked business owners whose property and shops were on the right of way of the flyover or encroached into the road corridor, to leave.
‘Owners of such property and shops are hereby advised to begin to dismantle their structures and evacuate their valuables immediately as agreed in the last stakeholders’ meeting,’ the statement read.
Soludo, who disclosed that the decision was reached during the stakeholders’ meeting, urged those concerned to start dismantling their structures in the marked out area.
Speaking through the Commissioner for Information, in a statement, the governor said such facilities would be affected to the extent of their encroachment on the road corridor.
The statement, titled, ‘Construction of Ekwulobia Flyover to Commence Soon,’ noted: “Government is informing those whose property and shops are on right of way of the flyover that their facilities will be affected to the extent of their encroachment on the road corridor.
‘Owners of such property and shops are hereby advised to begin dismantling their structures and evacuate their valuables immediately as agreed in the last stakeholders’ meeting’. ‘’
It will be recalled that the Commissioner for Works, Ifeanyi Okoma, had, during the inauguration of construction work in March, disclosed that a first modern bus terminal would be built in the location with capacity to accommodate 100 buses, while four kilometers of roads would be constructed round it, among others.
