Operatives of the Edo State Police Command have arrested a 16-year-old boy, Nathaniel Ogenowchukwu, for allegedly defiling a two-year-old minor.

On June 7, the suspect reportedly lured the minor into his room and defiled her.

The spokesperson of the state police, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident and said the suspect committed the offence in the Egba community of Uhunwonde Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Nwabuzor said the police received a report that Mr Ogenowchukwu had defiled the two-year-old baby.

He said an investigation on the matter was ongoing under the gender unit of the criminal investigation department.

The police spokesman assured the public that the suspect would be charged to court after the investigation.

However, in an interview, Mr Ogenowchukwu said he didn’t know what came over him.

“The two-year-old always comes to meet my sister, she came on this day, and I took her to go back home when my sister was not around, but she refused to go.

“So, I carried her, put her on the bed, and pulled her knicker halfway down. But I did not sleep with her.

“I did not penetrate her; I only put my p*nis between her lap.“I didn’t know what came over me because I have not done this before,” he said.

Ekiti-born chef, Miss Damilola Adeparusi, popularly known as Chef Dammy, on Monday, hit 85 hours in her determination to set a new record of 120 hours cooking marathon and emerge a holder of Guinness World Records.

Reports have it that residence Chef Dammy is currently undergoing the cooking marathon, in Ilupeju-Ekiti, and is being powered by a generator set since she started on Friday.

Residents of Ilupeju-Ekiti, in Oye Local Government Area, have been experiencing epileptic electricity supply for many months before Adeparusi embarked on her quest.

Adeparusi’s friends and colleagues daily storm the house to watch and give her moral support to break the unofficial record set by another chef, Hilda Baci, a few weeks ago.

Some of her colleagues who are students also sleep over at the location while others come to visit and return after enjoying music and various delicacies she is cooking.

Adeparusi is not looking weary or tired in her disposition, or body language and is not distracted by some negative comments about her quest by certain social media users.

It was also observed that three heavily armed military officers have been deployed to the house to safeguard her and her supporters from the invasion of unwanted persons.

Also, cadet officers were deployed to the entrance of the building to ensure that orderliness is maintained as her cooking marathon progresses and journalists alongside some social media practitioners were also seen at the residence.

As of the time of the report, Chef Dammy has made meals such as Eba, beans with corn, Amala, pounded yam, and rice among other delicious meals.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has called on Nigerians to join the fight against bandits, unknown gunmen and other criminal elements to help sustain and promote democracy.

NSCDC commandant general Ahmed Audi made the call on Monday in Abuja to commemorate the nation’s Democracy Day.

Mr Audi said citizens needed to support President Bola Tinubu’s policies and programmes for a better Nigeria.

He also said security agencies needed the cooperation of every citizen to secure the country effectively.

Therefore, Mr Audi asked citizens at all levels to provide credible information to help nip crime in the bud.

“If you see something, do not waste time saying something,” Mr Audi advised.

The NSCDC boss said only a secure society devoid of crimes would guarantee growth and development.

“A rise in being nationally security conscious is the first step towards creating a nation with a shared sense of national identity,” he added.

“It also fosters common understanding amongst different ethnic groups, religions, tribes, and organisations.”

Mr Audi called on governments at all levels to support security agencies to function effectively in crime fighting and prevention, stressing the need for security agencies to heed the president’s advice on synergy and collaboration for effective service delivery.

Mr Audi noted that eradicating crime and criminality in the country required formidable internal security apparatus devoid of unhealthy rivalry.

He added, “Preserving Nigeria’s democracy is a collective effort in which protecting her people and critical national assets is our role.”

The police command in Bauchi has confirmed that gunmen killed one person and abducted three others, including two community leaders in the Ningi local council area.

Police spokesman Ahmed Wakil confirmed the development in an interview on Monday in Bauchi.

He said the gunmen attacked a community known as Balma, killing one person and kidnapping three others, including two community leaders, late on Saturday.

Mr Wakil said the two community leaders were a village head in the Balma community, a ward head in the Bakutunbe community, and one other person who was also abducted.

The spokesman said the command had, on Sunday, received a report from its Balma outpost that gunmen had attacked the village.

“They shot sporadically and took away the village head, Alhaji Hussaini Saleh, who is 48 years old,” the police spokesman said.

Mr Wakil said the village head was kidnapped alongside one Idris Mai Unguwa and another man named Ya’u Gandu Maliya, 45.

“One Haruna Jibrin was, however, shot in the head by the gunmen.

When the police received a distress call, a team was drafted to the scene, they rescued the victim and rushed him to General Hospital, Ningi, where he was receiving treatment, but he was later confirmed dead,” the police officer reported.

Mr Wakil added, “At present, the police in Ningi Division are combing the bush to see how they can rescue the two abducted community leaders alive.”

The spokesman appealed to citizens to always provide information on suspicious movements of people to security agencies for immediate action.

The police command in Yobe on Saturday said it arrested a local chief and his two sons over the murder of one Goni Waje in Dako Kangarwa village, Yunusari Local Government Area.

The command’s spokesman, DSP Dungus Abdulkarim, in a statement in Damaturu, named the suspects simply as Jalomi, Ciroma and Bulama.

He said the murder occurred on June 7, after the trio accused Mr Waje of having an affair with the wife of Mr Bulama, the local chief and father of Jalomi and Ciroma.

“According to the eyes witness account, the deceased was matcheted with a cutlass and burned to death by the duo of Alhaji Jalomi and Ciroma.

“As narrated, the incident began as a fight that led to the deceased using a knife to inflict injury on the father of the suspects,” Mr Abdulkarim said.

He added that Mr Bulama subsequently instructed his children to go after Mr Waje, which they did by burning him to death.

Mr Abdulkarim said the three suspects turned themselves in to the Yunusari Divisional Police Station after the incident.

“While Bulama was finding ways to treat himself from the wound, he had no option but to involve the police in the process of investigation.

“The victim surfaced as accused, which led to his arrest at the Yunusari Police Division.

“Subsequently, the perpetrators of the heinous offence reported themselves to the Yunusari Division after the arrest of their father,” he said.

Mr Abdulkarim said the three suspects were transferred to the criminal investigation department for further investigation.

The spokesman said the body of Mr Waje was deposited at the Specialists Hospital, Damaturu.

A chef identified as Damilola Adeparusi has begun a 120-hour cooking marathon in Oye Local Government Area in Ekiti State.

This is coming barely after chef Hilda Baci broke the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual with a 100-hour record time.

Adeparusi has hit 15 hours of the 120 hours earmarked for cooking.

Leke Adeboye, son of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has doled out N2 million to some youth entrepreneurs in order to fund their businesses.

Speaking during the donation, Leke who is the lead pastor at Redeemed Christian Church of God, LSC The Bridge, noted that he knew the struggles that Small and Medium Enterprise owners face in Nigeria.

He said,

“It is said that most businesses are expected to fail within the first five years, particularly because of lack of access to funding and several other factors.

“I took up the challenge to address this issue by providing funds to five individuals with small businesses to help them scale their businesses and create value worth millions within a few months.

“Out of over 400 proposals, five people were shortlisted and received N400,000 each in funding, for their businesses. It was initially N200,000, but Sunday was a day of sudden miracles so it was multiplied into two.

The Joint Taskforce Committee on Refuse Evacuation in Kano metropolis, on Thursday, confirmed that it successfully evacuated over 400 trucks of waste within three days of operation.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Aliyu Yakubu Garo (Turakin Garo) disclosed on Thursday during the inspection and monitoring visit of evacuation of waste in Kano metropolis.

It should be recalled that the incumbent APC led- the administration of Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf constituted a joint task force committee, on refuse evacuation within the Kano metropolis.

The Committee is chaired by Ambassador Ahmadu Haruna Danzago, while the Permanent Secretary of, the Ministry of Environment is the Secretary of the committee, alongside other members charged, with the responsibility of mass waste evacuation within the Kano metropolis.

The objective of the exercise is ostensible to ensure proper waste disposal on our major roads and make Kano clean, devoid of waste and prevent blocking waterways, to prevent flooding, especially now that we are in the period of the rainy season.

The Permanent Secretary visited about 20 locations within Kano, where the operation is in progress, and commended the public for their cooperation and support in ensuring the successful evacuation of waste.

Also, charged residents to imbibe the culture of de-silting their drains regularly, to avoid flooding.

He acknowledged the apparent commitment of some philanthropic individuals, including the chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Danzago, among others toward the smooth conduct of this exercise, which is highly commendable.

Garo also pointed out that, the present administration of Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf within a short period of mounting the leadership saddle has displayed his passion and commitment to safeguarding lives through the promotion of environmental sanitation, as well as his directives to Kano residents to make use of baskets to dump waste, among other innovations.

He, therefore, tasked people in the state to complement the government’s efforts towards guiding the environment from the hazard of climatic change.

Commenting on the general operation of waste evacuation exercise within the Kano metropolis, the Permanent Secretary, expressed the hope that if this strategy is sustained, Kano would wear a new look.

Speaking on behalf of people in Kurna Asabe in Dala local government, Mallan Usman Nuhu commended Governor Kabir Yusuf for coming up with this initiative of Kano clean exercise, which he described, as timely, 2022 that the month-long accumulated waste in the area is causing them serious challenge and exposing their lives to environmental risks.

A storey building collapsed in Ogijo, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun state at about 7am today June 8.

Thankfully no life was lost in the incident.

According to reports, the uncompleted building located around PZ Estate, Onijagun, caved in without giving any sign.

Eyewitnesses say the building which has been erected to the roofing stage, had been abandoned for over 10 years and had provided temporary accomodation to some motorcycle riders before they were sent away for posing threats to the community.

While the cause of building collapse cannot be verified yet, it may be connected with the weakness of the structure having being abandoned for long.

A man identified as Chinedu Onu, has been nabbed in Akwa Ibom for allegedly manufacturing fake drinks.

The suspect was caught at Ikot Ukpong by Okon Youths in Eket Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday morning, June 7, 2023.

Items recovered from him include empty bottles of assorted drinks, printed labels of different kinds of drinks, among others.

The suspect was handed over to the police for further interrogation.