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PAGE 4 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 18, 2019<br />
Renowned Poet and former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Odia<br />
Ofeimun; Ekiti State First Lady, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; former ANA President, Dr Wale Okediran;<br />
and National President, Mallam Denja Abdullahi; during the investiture of Ekiti State<br />
G<strong>over</strong>nor, Dr Kayode Fayemi as Grand Patron of the association at the 2019 Ekiti State<br />
Chapter Convention in Ado-Ekiti.<br />
Monarch, scores of mourners killed by<br />
gunmen in Benue<br />
By Peter Duru,<br />
Makurdi<br />
Atraditional ruler,<br />
Chief Tersoo Mbagir,<br />
and 30 others, including<br />
mourners, were feared<br />
dead in a bloody weekend<br />
attack on Tongov village<br />
close to Amaafu town and<br />
Mbasar Gasema community<br />
in Katsian/Ala local g<strong>over</strong>nment<br />
area of Benue State.<br />
Sunday Vanguard gathered<br />
from a source, who<br />
claimed he lost a close friend<br />
in the attack, that the armed<br />
attackers, allegedly linked to<br />
a militia, stormed Mbasar<br />
Gasema community, less<br />
than a kilometer from Katsina/Ala<br />
town, in the early hours<br />
yesterday and killed their victims<br />
in their homes.<br />
“They are the same militia<br />
gang who have been attacking<br />
our people <strong>over</strong> the years.<br />
They carried out the dastardly<br />
act early Saturday morning”,<br />
he said.<br />
“This time they came when<br />
the people were fast asleep<br />
around 2am and started killing<br />
their innocent victims. It<br />
was the cry and wailing from<br />
the people’s homes that attracted<br />
the attention of Chief<br />
Tersoo Mbagir, my former<br />
classmate who was also our<br />
tax collector.<br />
“He went out to find out<br />
what was happening in his<br />
community and on his way<br />
he was ambushed by the militia<br />
and killed alongside four<br />
others while some also sustained<br />
injuries.<br />
“The same armed gang,<br />
numbering about 12, moved<br />
on motorbikes from Mbasar<br />
Gasema community and besieged<br />
Tongov community,<br />
close to Amaafu, where a<br />
wake-keep for a burial ceremony<br />
of one Tor was going<br />
on and killed about 25 persons<br />
though that figure may<br />
increase because many people<br />
are still missing and unaccounted<br />
for while some<br />
sustained serious injuries.<br />
“So, as I speak, Katsina/Ala<br />
is in deep mourning, and the<br />
people are apprehensive because<br />
nobody knows where<br />
will be the next target of this<br />
dreaded militia gang.<br />
“Most of the lecturers at the<br />
College of Education Katsina/Ala<br />
have moved out of<br />
town to neighbouring communities<br />
while some have relocated<br />
to Gboko and<br />
Makurdi from where they go<br />
to work daily for fear of being<br />
attacked and killed at<br />
night”.<br />
Confirming the attack,<br />
Katsina/Ala local g<strong>over</strong>nment<br />
Caretaker Chairman,<br />
Otunba Segun Runsewe, Director- General, NCAC, (middle), flanked to his right by Dr.<br />
Mrs Gloria Laraba Shoda, National President, National Council of Women Societies( NCWS),<br />
Comrade Safiya Ibrahim Ogah, left, Hajia Binta lbrahim, PRO and Hajia Hadiza A. Ibeh<br />
in a group photograph during a courtesy visit of the Council to NCAC in Abuja.<br />
Mrs. Virginia Kpinbi, however<br />
said that the number of<br />
deaths might not be as high<br />
as being rumoured by people<br />
in the affected communities.<br />
When contacted, Benue<br />
State Police Commissioner,<br />
Mr. Mukaddas Garba, who<br />
confirmed the attack, said the<br />
police had record of four<br />
deaths stressing that investigation<br />
into the matter was<br />
ongoing.<br />
Women societies join FG in fight against nudity<br />
In a bid to stem the cur<br />
rent tide of public display<br />
of nudity and immorality<br />
among youths in Nigeria, the<br />
National Council of Women<br />
Societies and the National<br />
Council for Arts and Culture<br />
have decided to embark on<br />
far-reaching youth sensitisation<br />
initiatives.<br />
Both Councils met at the<br />
headquarters of NCAC in<br />
Abuja with a common resolve<br />
aimed at redirecting the drift<br />
to moral decadence especially<br />
among young women<br />
which they both agreed was<br />
getting out of hand.<br />
Speaking during the meeting<br />
attended by several media<br />
outfits, the National President<br />
of the NCWS, Dr. Laraba<br />
Shoda, who led members<br />
of her executive, condemned<br />
the upsurge in public display<br />
of nudity citing the recent video<br />
spectacle of near-naked<br />
girls dancing in full public<br />
glare inside a transparent van<br />
in Lagos.<br />
She described another scenario<br />
where a young lady<br />
walked into a mall completely<br />
naked, lamenting such indecent<br />
behaviours by females<br />
particularly, negates the very<br />
essence of our culture which<br />
promotes the dignity of the<br />
African woman.<br />
Dr. Shoda said there was<br />
the need to create television<br />
programs with good cultural<br />
content unlike what obtains<br />
now just as she extolled<br />
NCAC for taking the lead in<br />
the campaign against the debasement<br />
of the African culture<br />
which according to her<br />
promotes high moral values<br />
amongst young women.<br />
On his part, the NCAC Director-General,<br />
Otunba Segun<br />
Runsewe, said the partnership<br />
of interest between the<br />
Women Societies and the<br />
NCAC will signal a new<br />
dawn in the crusade against<br />
cultural degeneration and<br />
foreign erosion of our culture.<br />
Runsewe was upbeat that<br />
with the NCWS speaking up<br />
and with the new found collaboration<br />
with the NCAC,<br />
the time has come to nip the<br />
menace in the bud in order to<br />
avert another future crisis in<br />
the country.<br />
He informed Nigerians<br />
that his council is working on<br />
legislation with the National<br />
Assembly to curb the negative<br />
trend of public nudity<br />
while also packaging a culture<br />
friendly television program<br />
to excite the youths<br />
with the hope of restablishing<br />
our esteemed cultural<br />
values of time past.<br />
The DG decorated the<br />
women with NCAC pinups<br />
thereby conferring on them<br />
the status of cultural ambassadors<br />
of Nigeria.<br />
Adefuye hosts Osinbajo, Tinubu, Diya, Sanwo-Olu on<br />
birthday<br />
Apostle Suleman inducted as Fellow of<br />
Nigerian Books of Record<br />
T<br />
he Nigerian Books of<br />
Record Research Institute,<br />
Abuja, Nigeria, will today,<br />
honour the senior pastor<br />
of the Omega Fire Ministries<br />
(OFM) worldwide, Apostle<br />
Johnson Suleman, and induct<br />
him as a Fellow of the<br />
Nigerian Books of Record.<br />
Suleman’s untiring spirit of<br />
using the pulpit to fight on the<br />
side of the oppressed, has<br />
earned him a place among<br />
eminent personalities like<br />
Pastor E.A. Adeboye, President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari,<br />
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,<br />
Pastor W.F. kumuyi, Chief<br />
Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji<br />
Aliko Dangote and more,<br />
who are on the list of the Nigerian<br />
Books of Record’s Circle<br />
of Eminence.<br />
A statement by the Director-General<br />
of the Nigerian<br />
Books of Record, Dr. David<br />
David, recognizes Suleman<br />
as one example of a true Nigerian<br />
who is doing so much<br />
to improve the international<br />
image of the country, especially<br />
by using the pulpit to<br />
contribute positively to issues<br />
of national interest.<br />
The Institute said it is honouring<br />
Suleman for his<br />
hard work, youth empowerment,<br />
humanitarian liberation<br />
and nation building.<br />
•Apostle Suleman<br />
day thanksgiving service of<br />
Senator Anthony Adefuye today<br />
at St. Dennis Catholic<br />
Church, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos,<br />
to be followed immediately<br />
by a reception at the Heavens<br />
Events Centre, Oba Akinjobi<br />
Avenue, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.<br />
Other programmes lined<br />
up for the celebrations includ-<br />
By Tony Nwankwo<br />
THE coordinator of Ijaw<br />
Monitoring Group (IMG),<br />
Comrade Joseph Evah has<br />
described the former g<strong>over</strong>nor<br />
of Edo State, Chief John<br />
Odigie-Oyegun as South-<br />
South’s priceless gift to the Nigerian<br />
nation. In a congratulatory<br />
message, the Niger<br />
Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya<br />
(ret.), Vice President<br />
Yemi Osinbajo, Asiwaju Bola<br />
Ahmed Tinubu, G<strong>over</strong>nor<br />
Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos<br />
State, G<strong>over</strong>nor Dapo<br />
Abiodun of Ogun State, Sir<br />
Kessington Adebutu, among<br />
others are expected at the<br />
grand finale of the 75th birthed<br />
a cultural outing on Friday,<br />
August 9, followed on<br />
Wednesday 14 by a thanksgiving<br />
service mass at his<br />
family residence chapel, Lekki<br />
Phase I, Lagos while a<br />
novelty match in honour of<br />
the celebrant held yesterday<br />
at National Stadium, Surulere,<br />
Lagos (practice pitch).<br />
Ijaw leader salutes John Odigie-<br />
Oyegun @ 80<br />
Delta activist, Evah, said the<br />
former National Chairman<br />
of All Progressives Congress<br />
(APC) is without doubt, one<br />
of the best and brightest civil<br />
servants and political icons<br />
of his generation. “We are<br />
proud that from our region,<br />
Chief Oyegun was part of the<br />
glorious Nigerian civil service<br />
years of the General Gowon<br />
era, that laid a solid foundation<br />
of g<strong>over</strong>nment business<br />
in the country.<br />
Voice of Truth Mission mounts<br />
seven nights revival in Lagos<br />
T<br />
HE Voice of Truth Mis<br />
sion Church, Agege, Lagos,<br />
holds her 24th annual revival<br />
from Monday night, August<br />
19 to Sunday, August 25.<br />
The revival will be held in the<br />
church’s auditorium at Plot<br />
23, Victor Olaiya Avenue,<br />
Alaagba, Iyana Ipaja, Agege.<br />
A statement from the<br />
church said the revival,<br />
tagged: “Seven Nights of Pulling<br />
Down the Strongholds”<br />
with the theme “Loose him<br />
and let him go” will feature<br />
messages on salvation, deliverance,<br />
healing, breaking of<br />
Satanic covenants, setting the<br />
captives free, restoration for<br />
couples with need for fruit of<br />
the womb and other prophetic<br />
declarations.<br />
Taraba: Ishaku renews ban on<br />
tricycle movement from 8pm<br />
By Femi Bolaji,<br />
Jalingo<br />
Taraba State g<strong>over</strong>nor,<br />
Darius Ishaku, has<br />
restated that movement<br />
of tricycles from 8pm<br />
across the state remains an<br />
offence liable for prosecution.<br />
The g<strong>over</strong>nor spoke as he<br />
reviewed the curfew imposed<br />
on Jalingo and parts of ArdoKola<br />
local g<strong>over</strong>nment areas<br />
of the state which has<br />
been in force for two months.<br />
In a statement yesterday by<br />
Cryptocurrency: CTP to empower<br />
thousands in tertiary institutions<br />
By Victor Arjiromanus<br />
Atop blockchain and<br />
cryptocurrency outfit,<br />
CryptoTVPlus, has<br />
concluded plans to commence<br />
its Campus Blockchain<br />
and Cryptocurrency<br />
awareness Tour, BCAT, across<br />
universities in Nigeria.<br />
This was made known at a<br />
press conference yesterday in<br />
Lagos.<br />
The e-commerce sensitisation<br />
and education tour<br />
which is scheduled to commence<br />
in September 2019,<br />
Senior Special Assistant to the<br />
G<strong>over</strong>nor on Media and Publicity,<br />
Bala Dan Abu, the existing<br />
curfew observed from<br />
9pm till dawn, will now commence<br />
from 12 am till 6am.<br />
The g<strong>over</strong>nor however<br />
maintained that the ban on<br />
movement of tricycles, popularly<br />
called Keke Napep,<br />
from 8pm till 6 am, remains<br />
unchanged, just as he charged<br />
security agencies to “arrest<br />
and ensure the prosecution of<br />
Keke Napep operators who<br />
violate the restriction order.”<br />
Glo-sponsored CNN African Voices<br />
screen Nigerian, SA film directors<br />
outh African dancer,<br />
Sactress, storyteller,<br />
poet, playwright, director and<br />
author, Nokugcina Elsie<br />
Mhlophe, is guest on this<br />
week’s African<br />
Voices Changemakers series<br />
on the Cable News Network<br />
(CNN), which issponsored<br />
by telecommunications<br />
giant, Globacom.<br />
The show will depict<br />
how Elsie and Nigerian producer,<br />
Choreographer, film<br />
director, dancer and actor,<br />
Seyi Oluyole, are taking kids<br />
off the streets.<br />
Sixty-year-old Mhlophe<br />
started as a domestic servant,<br />
progressed to a newsreader<br />
at the Press Trust and<br />
BBC Radio, and subsequently<br />
became a writer for<br />
Learn and Teach, a magazine<br />
for newly-literate postapartheid<br />
South Africans.<br />
She remains one of the<br />
few female storytellers in<br />
the country and has employed<br />
her charismatic performances<br />
in four languages<br />
including English,<br />
Afrikaans,Zulu and Xhosa<br />
as a vehicle for encouraging<br />
South African children<br />
not only to read, butalso<br />
to imbibe the values espoused<br />
by her stories.<br />
Mhlophe’s works have<br />
been translated into several<br />
languages including German,<br />
French, Italian, Swahili<br />
and Japanese. She has<br />
won the Obie Award for<br />
Performance as well as the<br />
Astrid Lindgren Memorial<br />
Award. She continues to<br />
traverse Africa and other<br />
parts of the globe, giving storytelling<br />
workshops on folklore,<br />
historical information,<br />
current affairs, songs and<br />
idioms.<br />
The other star on the show<br />
this weekend, 27-year-old<br />
Oluyole, is a graduate of<br />
English and Literary Studies<br />
of Covenant University.<br />
Oluyole founded a nong<strong>over</strong>nmental<br />
organisation<br />
named The Dream Nurture<br />
Foundation to cater for despondent<br />
street kids and indigent<br />
young adults whose<br />
hearts are crying to be nurtured.<br />
She also provideseducational<br />
opportunities for<br />
them throughthe NGO.<br />
Similarly, her dance<br />
academy,Dream Catchers,<br />
uses dance as a major tool in<br />
getting indigent children<br />
back to school in line with<br />
her belief that “every child<br />
deserves to succeed irrespective<br />
of their background”.<br />
She has successfully engaged<br />
such children in activities<br />
ranging from dance<br />
to drama and sports,<br />
while performing screenwriting<br />
for popular TV series<br />
including Tinsel, Hustleand<br />
Gbera leading to International<br />
music star, Rihanna,<br />
tipping Oluyole’s mentees<br />
for stardom.<br />
aims at teaching and exposing<br />
higher students on the<br />
basics, facts, and importance<br />
of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.<br />
The tour would commence<br />
at the University of Ibadan.<br />
Speaking to newsmen, the<br />
CEO, CryptoTVPlus, Mr.<br />
Tony Emeka said: “ Africa<br />
can only attain astronomical<br />
heights and not the usual<br />
catch up it plays with technology<br />
revolution through<br />
proper understanding of<br />
what blockchain and its varied<br />
applications present.”
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