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BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME MANY found it hard to believe. They made calls to confirm if those  close to the bishop had heard the story. But the  ‘man of God’ himself told the story before journalists at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. [caption id="attachment_402433" align="alignright" width="318"] Bishop Chibuike Nwabueze[/caption] Bishop Chibuike Nwabueze narrated the story of how he allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl after ministering at Calvary Army Ministry, Rumuoji Eneka in Obio Akpor local government area of Rivers state. He blamed it on the devil and also accused his host as the one who set him up. According to the cleric, after he finished ministering, he retired to rest. The girl later came for deliverance. He said that while he was pleading the blood of Jesus on the little girl, she started removing her dress. Before he could restrain her, he said he found himself on top of her. “But to my greatest surpri...

By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin-City It was harvest of arrests in Benin City, Edo State capital after men of the Department of State Security (DSS) paraded three members of a gang suspected of kidnapping the wife, daughter and driver of a justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, in May. Seven other suspects paraded were three alleged extortionists who were said to have threatened to kill their victim if he didn’t pay up and a musician for trafficking in persons. The State Director of the SSS, Mr. Bello Bakori, who paraded the suspects before Governor Adams Oshiomhole and journalists, said the suspects confessed to the crimes and that three members of the gang that kidnapped the justice’s wife remained at large. He said Mrs. Rhodes-Vivour and her daughter were kept in a house along Zomi Zomi area, in Upper Sokponba area of Benin-City where the kidnapping suspects were  arrested. All the kidnapping suspects are from Delta State while the trafficker in persons is from Edo. [cap...

By Ola Ajayi, Ibadan If weeping could raise the dead, tears from hundreds of traders at Bodija Market, Ibadan, Oyo State capital,  on Tuesday, would certainly do. But the grief that trailed the death of ten traders, allegedly murdered by Boko Haram in Muguna, Borno State was not enough to wake the dead. Even though the news of the slain traders  had been broken through a phone call by one of their customers on Friday, June 28,many of the traders were still thinking miracle could happen until they saw the bodies of the victims. The remains of the traders were delivered to their families who gathered at Egbeda Local Government Area of the state to collect them. [caption id="attachment_402431" align="alignnone" width="412"] FOR SLAIN IBADAN TRADERS—Sympathisers and relations of the slain traders weep as their bodies arrive Ibadan. Photos: Dare Fasube.[/caption] Two colleagues of the victims, Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola and Taoheed Azeez, escaped the attack. The v...

By Evelyn Usman The peace enjoyed by residents of  Idomila community, located off Agbara  Igbesa area of Ogun State, was, in the early hours of  Monday, suspended following sporadic gun shots which jolted  the residents  from sleep. The gun shots, described as one of the worst in the history of the community, were initially concluded to be from robbers. But when the dust settled, it was discovered to  be a  gun duel between operatives of Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja and suspected members of a notorious kidnap syndicate that used a building in the community as  hideout. At the end of the gun battle, seven suspected kidnappers were killed and two taken alive, in army uniform, with the recovery of four AK 47 rifles, 28 AK 47 magazines fully loaded, more than 1,000 rounds of AK- 47 live ammunition, army uniforms and two vehicles — a Honda CRV SUV with number plate ABC 106 AE and a Nissan Pathfinder SUV with number plate AGL 730 AZ. The alleged kidnappers; according to the police, were r...