Author: Eileen Peters

A POLICE Inspector identified as Maxwell Zabu, who was attached to a former Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State, Victor Ihunwo, has allegedly taken his own life by blowing his head off in the early hours of Tuesday. The tragic incident occurred at Eagle Island, the Port Harcourt residence of the former local government chairman. Although full details surrounding the circumstances of the death remain unclear as of press time, preliminary reports indicate that the officer died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head. The incident was first reported at the Eagle Island Police…

THE Delta State Police Command has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Love Shimite Bello, the Special Adviser to Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori on Trade and Export. Shimite passed away in the early hours of Easter Monday. Initial reports stated that she died after a brief illness but a source told News Point Nigeria that Shimite was found dead in mysterious circumstances. The Police Public Relations Officer of the Delta State Command, Bright Edafe, confirmed the death and the ongoing investigation. Edafe stated that Shimite was “confirmed dead at the hospital where she was taken.”…

THE Edo State Police Command has rescued ten students who were abducted on their way to Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, for the annual Generation of Youth for Christ (GYC), Africa conference. The students were kidnapped on April 16 at a location along the Edo-Ondo state border. In a separate operation, police also rescued two women who were abducted after gunmen shot and fatally wounded the husband of one of the victims at Oluoke in Etsako West Local Government Area, Edo North Senatorial District. The man was rushed to the hospital but was confirmed dead by a doctor on duty.…

EDO State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, said kidnappers caught in the state will face the death penalty, specifically by hanging, expressing readiness to sign the death warrants of convicts. Governor Okpebholo disclosed this at the stakeholders’ session at the Uromi Town Hall, where he had an interactive session with leaders and members of the Arewa community in Esan land. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Press Secretary to the governor, Fred Itua, on Friday. He noted that the Edo State House of Assembly had passed a bill amending the Kidnapping Prohibition Amendment Law (and Related Matters 2013).…

RIVERS State Government has dismissed the report of summoning suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy Ngozi Nma Odu to a meeting at the Government House on Friday, April 18, 2025. The government described such announcement as fake, stating that it did not originate from any official source. A viral report has on Monday circulated on various media platforms, stating that the Sole Administrator in Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, has summoned Fubara and his deputy to a meeting. However, the Permanent Secretary, Special Services Bureau, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Dede Sampson Friday, urged…

THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, says the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has not apologised to him to consider forgiving him. According to him, for there to be forgiveness, the person who did wrong must first acknowledge it and seek forgiveness. The minister, speaking through his media aide, Lere Olayinka, was reacting to the call by Niger Delta ex-militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, who called on him to forgive Fubara, his estranged political godson. Tompolo, while speaking on the Rivers State crisis in a statement recently, emphasised the need for restraint…

THE Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned to May 22, 2025, the hearing of a suit seeking to restrain Rivers State Sole Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas, from appointing local government administrators across the state’s 23 Local Government Areas. At the resumed hearing, the claimant, Oyingi Imiete, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for hearing of a motion for interlocutory injunction. However, he disclosed that the respondent had already appointed sole administrators for all 23 LGAs on April 9, 2025—allegedly after receiving the court’s order and originating processes in the suit. Imiete noted that service was effected…

THE Rivers State Government has demanded a refund of N300 million from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) following the relocation of its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu. In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media, Hector Igbikiowubo, the state government criticized the NBA’s reasons for moving the event, despite having received payment for hosting rights. “While we respect the NBA’s right to choose its conference venues, we find it curious that the association—despite its ‘principled position’— failed to address the refund of the N300 million already paid by the Rivers State Government for…

THE political crisis in Rivers has taken a new turn as a coalition of women groups stormed the streets of Port Harcourt in support of the emergency rule in the oil-rich state. The women who were dressed in white marched from the Garrison Flyover to the Isaac Boro Cark and were seen carrying placards with inscriptions such as “State of Emergency is Constitutional”, “We Don’t Want Fubara,” among others. They were led by a former Commissioner for Social Welfare in Rivers, Ifeyinwa Aguma, who is an ally of the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike. The protesters threw their weight…

A CROWD of women on Friday flooded the Aba road area of Port Harcourt, demanding the reinstatement of the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Ngozi Odu. The protest, which began along the major road, and advanced to the Rivers State Government House, featured placards with bold inscriptions such as “Bring back Fubara”, “Save our democracy”, “Is the law different for Rivers State?”, and “God of justice, arise for Rivers State.” Chanting songs of solidarity, the women, who described themselves as mothers and wives, appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu to lift the suspension on Governor…

THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has relocated its 2025 Annual General Conference (AGC) from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to Enugu, citing constitutional breaches stemming from the appointment of a Sole Administrator to govern the state. The NBA described the move as a principled stand against what it termed the unconstitutional governance of Rivers State by Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) who was appointed as Sole Administrator following the declaration of a state of emergency on March 18, 2025. In a statement released on Thursday and signed by Afam Osigwe, NBA president, Mobolaji Ojibara, general secretary, and Emeka Obegolu, chair of…

THE Federal Government, in collaboration with the Edo State Government, have set up a fact-finding Committee to look into the circumstances surrounding the recent killings of 16 Kano-bound Travellers in Uromi, the administrative headquarters of Esan North-East Local Government Area. Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, disclosed this on Thursday when he received a high-powered delegation from Kano State, led by the Deputy Governor of the State, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo at the Government House in Benin City. Okpebholo said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not happy over what happened in Uromi and he is determined to ensure the State…

THE Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has directed the Rivers State Administrator to appear before it and justify why an interim injunction should not be granted to halt the appointment of Sole Administrators for the state’s 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The order, issued by Honourable Justice Adamu Turaki Mohammed on Monday, April 7, 2025, followed an ex-parte motion filed by the Pilex Centre for Civic Education Initiative and its Coordinator, Courage Nsirimovu. The applicants sought to restrain the Rivers State Administrator and his agents from proceeding with the controversial appointments, arguing that such actions could undermine democratic processes…

AN Inspector of Police, Stephen Enang, slumped and died shortly after watching Arsenal’s emphatic 3–0 win over Spanish giants Real Madrid on Tuesday night in Calabar. The late Enang, a native of Ekori in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State, was attached to the Akim Police Division along IBB Way. Known among friends for his soft-spoken nature and deep passion for Arsenal, Enang was said to be in high spirits throughout the game. According to a close friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Enang had been elated during the match, celebrating each Arsenal goal with great excitement…

RIVERS State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) has approved the appointment of administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas of the state. This comes less that 24 hours after a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt reportedly restrained him from appointing administrators to oversea the affairs of the local government councils. The order was issued by Justice Adam Muhammed on Tuesday in suit no. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025 in the case filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative led by Courage Msirimovu against the Sole Administrator in his official capacity. however, Ibas also approved the constitution of some boards…

THE Nigerian Correctional Service, Bayelsa State Command, has denied reports that 15 former domestic staff of ex-First Lady, Patience Jonathan, are being held illegally at the Okaka Custodial Centre. In a statement on Sunday, the Okaka Custodial Centre spokesman, Isari Gbosi Tombara, described the reports as false and aimed at tarnishing the image of the service. “The rumour has been in circulation, purporting that the former first lady detained the said domestic staff since 2019 for theft, and that there was a closed-door meeting between the former first lady and top correctional officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Bayelsa State…

THE Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the state capital, has issued an order restraining the police, the Department of Security Services (DSS), security services and others from arresting Edison Ehie, the suspended Chief of Staff to the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara. The court presided over by Justice IPC Igwe issued the order in a a motion brought before it by Ehie, who is the claimant/applicant. Others included in the suit as defendants/respondents are the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Director-General of the DSS; the state Director, DSS and the Police Service Commission (PSC). The judge said:…

THE Edo State Governorship Tribunal sitting in Abuja, has dismissed the petition instituted by the Action Alliance (AA) and one Adekunle Omoaje, against Governor Monday Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress (APC), for lacking in merit and being frivolous. The Tribunal held that Adekunle Omoaje, who filed the joint petition, has no locus standi to Institute the case. Among others, the Tribunal held that Omoaje did not participate in the governorship election and as such has no power to question the validity of the election. The Tribunal also held that Omoaje’s grouse against the election was that he was not…

COMMUNITIES around Old Ilushi Road, Opere, and Good Will Junction in Uromi, Edo State, have been deserted by residents for fear of reprisals and arrests by security agents, following the lynching of 16 northern travellers by a mob in the area last Thursday. This came as Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State yesterday in Kano State, assured that justice will prevail for those killed in the mob attack. He also visited the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), where he said the 14 suspects so far arrested in connection with the killings, would soon be moved to…

EDISON Ehie, the Chief of Staff to suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has narrated why he allegedly turned down N5 billion bribe to coordinate the impeachment of his principal. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Ehie claimed he has evidence of the bribe offer stored on his phone. “I can also open my phone to show you, in the beginning of October 2023, when they approached me with a bribe of N5 billion. It is here in my phone but I turned it down. “It was for impeachment. It’s here. I have it and I have printed it and…