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BOKO HARAM: Ikedife warns El-Rufai on Ihejirika, others:

Dr. Dozie Ikedife, former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, warned of a break-up of the country, if former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Nasir El-Rufai, and other northern leaders did not refrain from discrediting the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Major General Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) and other Igbo icons.
Ikedife, who was a delegate at the just concluded national conference, stated that the manner El-Rufai and his fellow northern elders molested Igbo icons, was becoming too unbearable that with a little more push, Nigeria would go down the slippery slope.
Speaking to newsmen in his Nnewi country home, Ikedife said, in his reaction to the recent social media report in which El-Rufai was said to have fingered Ihejirika as one of the sponsors of the Boko Haram insurgents in the country, that such a blatant statement was capable of attracting the wrath of Ndigbo.
The visibly angry Ikedife said the accusation was another classical case of hounding and haunting of an Igbo icon in the person of General Ihejirika, who left the Army a few months ago as the Chief of Army Staff.

He said: “I wish to recall that when Ihejirika left the Army, those I identified as destroyers of credit and rumour mongers said that he was dismissed from the Army, but my investigation revealed that Ihejirika retired as and when due and was indeed the last member of his course mates to retire from the army.
“Following that retirement, he continued, the high and the mighty in one section of the country ganged themselves up and decided to take Ihejirika to the International Court of Justice for alleged crime against humanity because, as they said, of the way he hounded, the way he tried to checkmate Boko Haram insurgency when he was head of the Nigerian army. They accused him of using undue force and fighting Boko Haram mercilessly.
“That particular accusation seems to have died down because it must be understood that in the army, you carry out orders and take instructions from the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. So, the stigma they wanted to stick on him did not work.”


APC SET TO ESTABLISH NATIONAL WOMEN CAUCUS:

NATIONAL Woman leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Hajiya Ramatu Aliyu, disclosed, yesterday, that plans had been concluded to establish a National Women Caucus, NAWOCA, for the party.
According to her, the move will help strengthen and deepen the participation of women in its decision making process.
In a statement, yesterday, and made available to journalists, Hajiya Aliyu said the caucus was conceived as a platform to address the need for women leaders of the party from the ward to national levels to come together and discuss issues of common interest as members of one family.
She said NAWOCA was derived from the need for women in the party to show that they trusted one another, so other Nigerian women could trust them.
‘’We need to accommodate our differences so that we can accommodate the differences of other Nigerian women who believe in what we believe.
“The body would also seek to show that we are of one accord, so that the women of Nigeria will know that we are one family, united and prepared to provide leadership by example,” she said.
The APC women leader, who emphasised that NAWOCA would strengthen bonds of unity among the women in the party, stressed that when convened, it would enable them ‘’share our worries, bond our passions, sharpen our convictions and strengthen our common beliefs so that the change we offer Nigerian women will not be in vain.”
While urging women in the party to close ranks to enable them play their role as ‘’champions of change for national redemption,” she, however, urged them to support the NAWOCA initiative, being a child of necessity for change for Nigerian women.
“NAWOCA is a child of necessity for a stronger APC women,” Hajia Aliyu said.
Calling on women in the party to lead other Nigerian women to strengthen the nation’s democracy, Hajiya Aliyu said:  ‘’We must resolve to arm them with the power of the vote because they have the advantage of greater number.

6 FACTORY WOKERS ARRESTED FOR STEALING GOODS WORTH 24M:

Six factory workers and two others have been arraigned before an Ebute-Metta chief magistrate’s court, sitting in Oyingbo for allegedly stealing 24 drums of chemical worth N24 million.
The accused are Mark Ekpo, 35; Gbenga Soyombo, 37; Akindolire Tobi, 26; Emmanuel Emordi, 32; Ogunbayo Seyi, 47 and Bright Hassan, 27.
Others are Kingsley Uchegwam, 26 and Christian Onyekaozulu, 40, who were alleged to have bought and received the said stolen chemical.
They are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and receiving of stolen goods preferred against them by the Police.
The prosecutor, Inspector George Nwosu, told the court that six of the defendants made up of of security men, store keepers and drivers conspired to commit the offence between July 2013 and June 2014, while they were working with N. N. FENS Industries Limited.
He said they conspired to steal the said chemical known as Lanolin and menthol, property of the company, located at Wemco Road, in Ogba area of Lagos.
Nwosu also said two other defendants were alleged to have bought eight drums of lanolin and one drum of menthol from Mark Ekpo, a store keeper with the company, at N800,000 and N100,000, respectively, knowing that the products were stolen.
According to the prosecutor, the offences are punishable under Sections 409, 283(7) and 326 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.
The defendants’ counsel, Melda Adebambo, Spurgeon Ataene and S.O. Elimieh urged the court to grant the defendants bail in the most liberal terms.
Magistrate E. O. Ogunganmi admitted the six factory workers to bail in the sum of N1 million each with two responsible sureties each in like sum, while the two buyers were admitted to bail in the sum of N100,000, with one responsible surety each in like sum.
The matter was adjourned till September 29.

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