The Nasarawa State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two men on the Keffi– Nasarawa Road for possessing illegal firearms.

The agency’s state Commander, Peter Onche-Odaudu, made disclosure during a press conference in Lafia on Friday.

According to Mr Onche-Odaudu, operatives from the Keffi Area Command of the agency on motorised patrol along Keffi-Nasarawa Road on October 28, 2023, stopped a commercial vehicle on routine stop and search.

“During the search, the two suspects; Abdulraman Sani, aged 20 and Ibrahim Usman, 20, were arrested while on their way to Nasarawa-Toto. They were found to be in possession of a locally made pistol and one cartridge concealed in a black polythene bag,” he said.

Mr Onche-Odaudu added that the suspects claimed that the firearm was given to them by one Sani at Tashan Yaro in Katsina State to deliver to a certain Babangida in the Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

He said that the suspects revealed that Babangida was to give them N200, 000 for them to share.

“They acknowledged that they were in possession of illegal firearms, ’’ he said.

The state commander also said that the suspects would be transferred to the police for further investigation and necessary action.

Mr Onche-Odaudu pointed out that the agency had a good history of collaboration with other security agencies and had not been found wanting in fulfilling its obligations in that regard.

“In furtherance of this inter-agency collaboration, for instance, between 2022 and 2023 alone, at least four suspects have been transferred from us to the Nigerian Police Force,” he added.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday inaugurated a new member of the Executive Council and two permanent secretaries.

Speaking during the ceremony at the Lagos House, Ikeja, Mr Sanwo-Olu said that the appointment of a new member of the State Executive Council was to expand the scope of administration in the state’s healthcare system.

A trained nurse and two-term member of the state Health Service Commission, Mrs Oluwakemi Ogunyemi, was sworn in as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health.

Besides, the governor elevated two directors in the state civil service to permanent secretaries.

A Director of Administration and Human Resources at the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Mr Adewunmi Ogunsanya, was appointed permanent secretary for the Cabinet Office.

Also, the Director of Administration and Human Resources at Education District IV, Mrs Iyabo Seriki-Bello, is now the permanent secretary of the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission.

He congratulated the appointees for their selection and urged them not to get carried away because expectations were high for them to justify their appointments.

The governor said that given their wealth of experience and knowledge in governance, he was confident that they would not disappoint him in the discharge of their responsibilities.”

I welcome Mrs Oluwakemi Ogunyemi to the State Executive Council, having been confirmed by the House of Assembly. She will be serving as Special Adviser on Health.

”The expectations are high, given the wealth of experience she is bringing to the table. I expect that you would immediately settle into your responsibilities, so that the government and the people of Lagos can harness your full potential, while you work to help actualise all of the programmes and activities in your portfolios.

”Having gone through extensive and rigorous screening, I congratulate the newly-appointed permanent secretaries.

”These are strategic and critical assignments that have been assigned to them, but my confidence lies in your pedigrees and years of experience in the service of the state. I believe you have what it takes to quickly settle in your roles and discharge your duties without further delay,” he said.

Mr Sanwo-Olu urged the appointees to familiarise themselves with the administration’s development agenda, known as THEMES Plus, pointing out that the implementation of the programmes remained on track.

He said that gender equality and youth inclusion were the cardinal focus of his government, as the appointment of women and young people to key positions was a testament to his commitment to inclusive governance.

”We are counting on your ingenuity, innovative minds, commitment and purposeful leadership in your respective areas of responsibility.

”You must ensure that good governance is the minimum you deliver,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said.

The Head of Service, Mr Olabode Agoro, who presented the appointees to the governor, described the new permanent secretaries as experienced officers, who shared the administration’s vision.

Giving a note of assurance on behalf of others, Ogunyemi thanked the governor for the confidence reposed in them.

”We promise to be diligent in discharging our responsibilities in line with the oath of office and THEMES Plus agenda,” she said.

Nine people were detained at a pro-Palestinian rally and demonstration in Frankfurt on Friday according to the police.

Police are investigating those detained on suspicion of crimes including incitement to hatred and the use of unconstitutional symbols.

Around 850 people took part in the demonstration in Frankfurt city centre that was held under the banner, “Ceasefire in Gaza.”

Police said they seized a sign with what they described as “SS runes” and arrested the woman carrying it.

Another woman held up a poster depicting the flag of the state of Israel in a rubbish bin – and the words “Keep the world clean.”

The officers also seized the poster and charged the woman with suspected incitement to hatred.

Two Nigerian nationals who were extradited to the United States from Spain were sentenced to 128 and 87 months in prison for their roles in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme. With today’s sentencing, five defendants who were extradited from the United Kingdom and Spain in connection with this matter have been sentenced.

According to court documents, Ezennia Peter Neboh, 48, who was sentenced today to 128 months of incarceration, was the lead defendant of a group of fraudsters who sent personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States, falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who had died years before in Portugal.

Victims were told that before they could receive their purported inheritance, they were required to send money for delivery fees and taxes and were instructed to make other payments.

Victims sent money to the defendants through a complex web of U.S.-based former victims. The defendant and his co-conspirators also convinced former victims to receive money from new victims and then instructed those former victims to forward the fraud proceeds to others.

On Oct. 23, the Honorable Kathleen M. Williams sentenced another defendant who was also extradited from Spain, Kennedy Ikponmwosa, to 87 months of imprisonment. Three other co-defendants who were extradited from the United Kingdom also received prison sentences.

On June 21, Judge Williams sentenced Emmanuel Samuel to 82 months in prison; on July 25, Judge Williams sentenced Jerry Chucks Ozor to 87 months in prison; and on August 29, Judge Williams sentenced Iheanyichukwu Jonathan Abraham to 90 months in prison, for their roles in the scheme.

“The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch will continue to pursue, prosecute and bring to justice transnational criminals responsible for defrauding U.S. consumers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

“We thank our colleagues at the Spanish National Police and the Ministry of Justice for assisting with the successful investigation and extradition of these defendants. This prosecution is a testament to the critical role of transnational collaboration in tackling transnational crime.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) has a long tradition of protecting American citizens from these types of schemes and bringing those responsible to justice,” said Inspector in Charge Juan A. Vargas for the USPIS Miami Division.

“This result is a testament to the dedicated partnership between the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the USPIS to protect our citizens from these scams.”

“HSI has a long history of aggressively pursuing criminals to ensure that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Brown for HSI Arizona.

“When criminals indiscriminately target the elderly or otherwise vulnerable, the impact and harm is particularly long-lasting. These sentences send a message to those around the world who think they can escape our laws – anyone who engages in or facilitates deceptive practices like these will not go undetected. HSI will continue to work tirelessly to hold those criminals accountable and bring justice to victims.” The Consumer Protection Branch, USPIS and HSI are investigating the case.

Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorneys Josh Rothman and Brianna Gardner of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Europol and authorities from the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal all provided critical assistance.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).

This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps.

Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis.

Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses.

The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.

More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP.

The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.

A chief magistrates’ court on Friday ordered one Matthew Bem to be remanded in a correction centre in Makurdi for allegedly killing his wife, Mngusonum Bem.

The 42-year-old farmer, who lives in Korinya Settlement in Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue, was charged with culpable homicide.

However, the chief magistrate, T.K. Atta, did not take his plea for want of jurisdiction.

Mr Atta adjourned the matter until December 20, 2023, for further mention.

Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Insp Godwin Ato, told the court that the case was transferred from the Divisional Police Headquarters, Tse-Agberagba, on October 26, 2023, via a letter dated the same day.

Mr Ato said the letter stated that on October 24, 2023, information was received from the officer-in-charge of Korinya Police Station that a man had killed his wife.

The letter stated that on that same fateful, October 24, the defendant and his 30-year-old wife engaged in a fight and in the process, the defendant picked a knife and stabbed his wife, who bled to death on the spot.

The prosecutor said the defendant was arrested during the police investigation, and he voluntarily confessed to committing the crime.

He said the offence contravened section 222 of the penal code law of Benue, 2004.

The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested one Yakubu Adamu of Kumbi village in Kirfi Local Government for stabbing his younger brother, Yayaji Abubakar, to death.

The state police spokesperson, Superintendent Ahmed Wakil, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

According to Mr Wakil, the suspect confessed to committing the crime to inherit his brother’s motorcycle. He said the suspect had been stealing motorcycles since 2020.

He said, “On October 13, at about 7:30 p.m., one Usman Mohammad, 38, of Gorondo Village via Alkaleri council, Bauchi State, reported a case at the Divisional Headquarters, Kirfi.

“He said on the same date, at about 3:40 p.m., one Yakubu Adamu, 25, of Kumbi village via Alkaleri council, armed with a shaped knife, attacked his younger brother, Yayaji Abubakar, 25, of the same address.”

Mr Wakil said the suspect stabbed his brother several times, resulting in injuries on both hands and stomach and also robbed him of his motorcycle.

He said the victim was subsequently taken to General Hospital Alkaleri, where he was declared dead.

“During interrogation, the defendant confessed to having committed the offence and further revealed that he started the act of stealing a motorcycle in the year 2020 when he criminally conspired with one Auwalu of the same address and stole a red Bajaj motorcycle.

“He sold it at N70,000, and they shared the proceeds of crime among themselves. An investigation is still ongoing, after which the suspect will be charged to court,” Mr. Waki added.

An Australian woman charged with murdering three people in a suspected mushroom poisoning case is also accused of trying to murder her ex-partner on four occasions, court documents say.

Erin Patterson, 49, was charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder on Thursday.

The murder charges relate to a family lunch she hosted in July at her home in the town of Leongatha, Victoria.

Ms Patterson continues to maintain her innocence.

She appeared briefly in court on Friday, where her case was adjourned until 3 May to give prosecutors time to analyse computer equipment seized from her home during a police search. She did not apply for bail.

About half a dozen TV crews were lined up outside the hearing in the small town of Morwell, about 60km (37 miles) from Leongatha.

But for the cameras and curious locals there was no glimpse of Ms Patterson, who was moved from her overnight police cell into the court building via a connecting tunnel.

In court documents released to local media on Friday, police allege Ms Patterson attempted to kill her estranged husband Simon Patterson three times between November 2021 and September 2022.

The alleged fourth attempt was on the day she served a beef Wellington lunch to his parents Gail and Don Patterson, aunt Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian Wilkinson. Simon Patterson did not attend the meal.

Erin Patterson has said she made the dish using a mixture of button mushrooms bought from a supermarket, and dried mushrooms purchased at an Asian grocery months earlier.

All four of her guests were later taken to hospital reporting violent illness, police say.

Within days the Patterson couple, both 70, and Ms Wilkinson, 66, had died. Mr Wilkinson, 68, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but later recovered.

Police say they believe the four ate death cap mushrooms – which are highly lethal if ingested.

Ms Patterson was named as a suspect after she and her two children appeared unharmed after the lunch.

But she maintains she never intended to poison her guests and says that she herself was taken to hospital after the meal and given medication to guard against liver damage.

“I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones,” she wrote in a statement in August.

Police have stressed the complexity of the case, describing it as a tragedy that may “reverberate for years to come”.

“I cannot think of another investigation that has generated this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria, but also nationally and internationally,” Homicide squad Inspector Dean Thomas said on Thursday.

At least 32 people have been killed in a fire that tore through a drug rehabilitation centre in northern Iran, authorities have said.

The blaze erupted early on Friday in Langarud, a city in the Caspian Sea province of Gilan north of Tehran.

Esmail Sadeghi, a provincial chief justice, told local media that 16 others were taken to hospital.

Iran imposes a death penalty on repeat drug smugglers and dealers but runs a series of rehab programmes for addicts.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear but Mr Sadeghi said an investigation “was under way”, according to local reports. The centre accommodated up to 40 people.

Isna, a semi-official Iranian news agency, shared footage of the fire which lit up the sky and sent huge plumes of smoke into the air.

Other images showed the heavily damaged site after the fire was contained.Iran is estimated to have the world’s highest per-capita number of opioid addicts and sits on a major smuggling route for opium grown in Afghanistan.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s world drug report this year said that Iran made 47% of the global heroin and morphine seizures originating from Afghanistan during 2020.

Amnesty International said in a June report that Iran had executed at least 173 people convicted of drug-related offences this year after “systematically unfair trials”.

The figure was nearly three times more than this time last year, the rights group added.

A Bollywood actress is set to receive an honorary doctorate in recognition of her contribution to the industry.

Preity G Zinta will be presented with the degree from Birmingham City University (BCU) in India next year.

The 48-year-old is also set to join West Midlands mayor Andy Street in the city on 4 and 5 November as part of Diwali celebrations.

Mr Street said he was “excited” she would lead celebrations, in her first UK appearance in more than a decade.

Her visit to Birmingham coincided with the city’s India Film Festival which closes on Friday.Ms Zinta’s forthcoming doctorate was a testament to her “remarkable contributions” to “Bollywood and her philanthropic endeavours”, Mr Street said.

“I am absolutely delighted to welcome Preity G Zinta to Birmingham and our vibrant region.

“Professor David Mba, vice chancellor of BCU, said he was “thrilled” and hoped to work with Ms Zinta to explore “exciting opportunities” spanning from Indian cinema to entrepreneurship.

“This is an exceptional moment for our dedicated staff, aspiring students, and for the dynamic city of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region,” he said.

Ms Zinta, known for her work in Hindi films such as Veer Zara, made her acting debut in 1998 and is a former UNAIDS ambassador.

She said: “It’s a tremendous privilege to be receiving this honorary doctorate from BCU, especially given its strengths in business and media that chime so well with my own career.

“I’m very excited to be part of the Diwali celebrations in Birmingham and look forward to meeting all the wonderful people there, marking the Festival of Lights together.”

The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, says the church has a huge role to play in nation-building and must, therefore, not stay aloof. Umo made the call recently in the Ago Area of Lagos State during the official dedication of the Sure Word Assembly Church’s new auditorium ‘The Megalife Cathedral’.

The ceremony also marked the 60th birthday anniversary of the church’s founder, Dr Dennis Inyang, and the presentation of his autobiography titled ‘Keep Moving’.

While speaking at the event, Eno said, “The church has the responsibility to model lives and be the vanguard of the society. I’m one of those who believe that the church must do more than we are doing now. People are contented when we are within the four walls of the church and we don’t get involved. I want the church to start getting involved.”

The governor added that the dedication of the cathedral was symbolic because it had become a place for molding lives.

Earlier, the celebrant, Inyang, said, “I am so excited because this is a celebration of the grace of God. That I have lived long enough to celebrate 60 years is an achievement. Some were born around the same time as me that are not alive today. I remember that six different times I have survived death. I could have died in any of those times but God is merciful to me and I am still alive. As I look at this beautiful edifice, I see it as the expression of the grace of God and our faith in God. We are so happy that friends came from far and near to rejoice with us,” he said.

Over seven communities in Delta State are living in fear as a result of a yawning gully erosion that has widened over the years.

At the moment, the residents of the Alibuba community in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State are apprehensive that more than 10 houses may cave in at the end of this year’s round of rains if the erosion issue is not tackled.

The Secretary of the community, Mr Clement Ihiale, told South South Punch that the situation is now worse and many houses may cave in.

He said, “We have been crying to the government over eight years when the gully erosion was not as big as it is now, but dem play a deaf ear.

“A few days before the governorship election, they brought caterpillar as if they wanted to commence work and deceived us to vote for them, few days immediately after the election, they carried the equipment out of the site, till now we have not seen them.

“We are begging the Federal Government and the state government to come to our aid, very soon, many of us will be relocating now that mostly night rain is at its worst.”

He said that many lives have been lost to the gully erosion, including two siblings of the Allibuba Primary School, aged 15 and 11 years respectively, who were swept away by flood in 2019.

Ashama and Ubulu-Uku communities in Aniocha South Local Government Area of the state and Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Government Area are also facing ecological challenges, with attendant losses of lives and property like houses or farmlands to gully erosion.

Speaking on the life-threatening erosion site, the state Commissioner for Environment, Mr Jamani Ejiro, said that the state is gradually intervening in some erosion sites.

Ejiro said, “As a state, we are collaborating with the World Bank through NEWMAP to intervene in some erosion sites in the state.

“You are aware that the state had intervened in Ukwu-Nzu, Obonkpa in Aniocha North area of the state and Owa-nta in Ika North-East.

“We are preparing to intervene in the Amacha erosion site in Okpanam, Vanguard area in Asaba and Jesse site in Ethiope West Local Government Area of the state.

“Last week, I was at the National Project Office, Abuja and I reported to Governor Sheriff Oborevweri the outcome of the meeting.

“I will visit the Alibuba erosion site on a spot assessment to see for myself before I brief the governor. He is a listening governor who means well for Delta State.

On ecological funds, the commissioner said that the state has not received any ecological funds from the Federal Government.

He explained that efforts are ongoing with his counterpart in other states to meet the Minister of Environment on the issue of ecological funds.

Reports have surfaced alleging that actor Amaechi Muonagor is paralysed.

The veteran Nollywood actor, in a video that surfaced on social media Friday, could be seen struggling to speak as he introduced himself with a brief explanation of his condition.

He said, “By the grace of God, a Nollywood actor. You are correct; I am sick.

“This thing that is called stroke. I was working, not driving. I was rushed to the hospital.

“I was first taken to a hospital in Nnewi, where I spent some two months before I was referred to a teaching hospital, and here I am now.”

I was on set with Patience Ozokwor, Pete Edochie, and Emeka Ani for seven months. It was when I was about to leave that I was struck with this, and since then, it’s been getting worse.

“Right now, I can not walk on my own.”

Real Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes has signed a new contract until 2028, the Spanish club said Thursday.

The Brazilian winger has agreed to extend his deal in the same week his compatriot Vinicius Junior also signed on at the Santiago Bernabeu until 2027.

“Real Madrid and Rodrygo have agreed the extension of the player’s contract, keeping him at the club until June 30, 2028,” said Madrid in a statement.

Rodrygo, 22, has struggled to hit top form this season but is a key player for Madrid, scoring a brace against Osasuna in May to win Los Blancos their first Copa del Rey trophy since 2014.

The attacker agreed to join Madrid in 2018 for 45 million euros ($48 million) from Santos in Brazil, arriving in the Spanish capital in the summer of 2019, a year after Vinicius.

Rodrygo has scored 39 goals in 179 appearances for Marid across all competitions, winning two La Liga titles and the Champions League in 2022 among other silverware.

Saudi Arabia is making another $13 million available to aid civilians in Gaza, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) said on Thursday.

Saudi King Salman and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman are donating the money themselves.

KSRelief, founded in 2015, works with UN organisations and says it has recipients in almost 100 countries.

Since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas, the UN emergency relief office OCHA has appealed for urgent financial aid amounting to $300 million.

The Senate has halted the proposed purchase of the N5.095 billion presidential yacht which was part of the expenditures in the 2023 supplementary budget submitted to the National Assembly for approval.

This followed condemnation from the public about the insensitivity of such a purchase amidst the unprecedented level of poverty and hardships among citizens as well as the country’s worsening economy.

The yacht, which accessories and other components had already been delivered to Nigeria, had not been fully paid after then-President Muhammadu Buhari approved its purchase.

It was among the committed obligations submitted by the office of the Chief of Naval Staff to the Ministry of Defence.

The total of the submitted naval requests was in excess of N200 billion, out of which not more than N62 billion was approved by Mr Tinubu.

The Senate Committee on Navy chaired by Gbenga Daniel, at a meeting with the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, on Thursday, re-evaluated the budget of the navy in the supplementary proposal by the president, and advised that the proposed purchase of the presidential yacht be expunged.

Instead, the committee proposed the replacement of the now expunged yacht proposal with critical equipment to support operational efforts against oil theft, bunkering and pipeline vandalisation, and thereafter, passed the revised supplementary budget.

The Nigerian Senate has passed the N2.17 trillion 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill, recently sent to it by President Bola Tinubu.

The passage followed the adoption of the report of the harmonised sittings of both chambers on the bill as submitted by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC Ogun West).

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration submitted an N2.1 trillion budget to the National Assembly after the Federal Executive Council approval on Monday.

Key components of the budget include N210bn for Wage Award for Civil Servants, N605 billion for National Security and Defence, N300 billion for maintenance of bridges, especially the Eko bridge, and N400 billion for cash transfer to vulnerable households, N200 billion for seed and agricultural inputs and equipment and N18 billion for Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct off-season elections.

Schitt’s Creek actress Emily Hampshire has apologised for dressing up as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard with a friend for Halloween.

Hampshire, 42, told her Instagram followers she was “sorry and ashamed”.

In a now-deleted post, Hampshire was seen styled as Depp, with drawn-on facial hair and tattoos, while her friend screwed up her face in mock distress as the actor’s ex-wife.

Former couple Depp and Heard both accused each other of domestic abuse.

Hampshire, who played Stevie Budd in sitcom Schitt’s Creek, described the costume as “one of the most thoughtless, insensitive, and ignorant things” she had ever done.

In the original post, the Canadian actress was seen wearing a pin-striped suit, with her hair slicked back. She was also holding a wine bottle – an apparent reference to details from the couple’s televised court case last year.

Hampshire went on to write that she was ashamed at having put “something that awful out into the universe” and said “domestic abuse is never, ever funny”.

Last year, Depp and Heard’s relationship was in the spotlight due to a US court case in which Depp accused his ex-wife of defamation over an article she wrote for the Washington Post.

In the 2018 opinion piece, Heard said she had lost work and received death threats after accusing her ex-husband of domestic abuse, and had “felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out”.

Depp said the article implied he was violent towards Heard, and won the seven-week case against her.

Two years previously, Depp lost a similar case in the UK against the Sun newspaper, after the High Court said the content of an article which called him a “wife-beater” was “substantially true”.

Australian police arrested a woman early on Thursday in connection with the deaths of three people in August in a suspected mushroom poisoning.

Four people were taken to hospital on July 30 when they became ill after eating a meal at a home near Melbourne, in the state of Victoria.

Two women, aged 66 and 70, died in hospital on August 4, while a 70-year-old man died on August 5.

A second man was taken to hospital in critical condition and was only released on September 23.

Police said the 49-year-old woman was arrested at her home in Leongatha, near Melbourne and would be interviewed in relation to the incident.

“The investigation remains ongoing,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

In April, Victoria’s Department of Health released an advisory warning people that poisonous mushrooms, including Death Cap mushrooms and Yellow-staining mushrooms, were growing in the state.

“Unless you are an expert, do not pick and eat wild mushrooms in Victoria,” the department warned.

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP-Kogi) on Thursday took the oath of office and allegiance as senator representing Kogi Central at the National Assembly.

The clerk of the Senate, Chinedu Akubueze, administered the oath to Ms Akpoti-Uduaghan.

This followed the judgement of the Appeal Court, which declared her as the winner of the February 25 parliamentary election.

The three-member panel, in a judgment, upheld the judgment of the state’s election petitions tribunal and dismissed the appeal filed by Abubakar Ohere of the All Progressives Congress (APC).