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Edo Central Senator, Ikpea Supports  Okpebholo’s Stance On Quick Trial Of kidnappers  By Editor  The senator representing Edo Central Senatorial District of Edo State in the National Assembly, Senator Joseph Ikpea, has thrown his weight behind the proposal by Governor Monday Okpebholo to seek speedy trial of kidnappers and cultists in the state with the aim of making their punishment prompt.   Senator Ikpea, in a statement issued in his Ewatto country home in Esan South-East Local Government Area and made available to journalists, also commended Governor Okpebholo for the arrest of the kidnap syndicates operating in parts of the state, and particularly the rescue of the woman kidnapped in the Vegetable Market, on Sunday, and the arrest of a member of the gang.   The Edo State Police Command with Governor Okpebholo, had on Thursday paraded suspected kidnappers including one of those that participated in the Vegetable Market incident, where the governo...

Operation Flush Out Kidnappers: Kidnap Syndicate Kingpin Arrested In Uromi, Suspect’s House Demolished By Editor  The Edo State Government has arrested an alleged kingpin of a kidnapping syndicate linked to several abduction cases in Uromi and its environs, as part of its ongoing efforts to tackle kidnapping, cultism and other criminal activities across the state. The suspect, identified as Christian Okoduwa, is currently in police custody in Benin City, while his residence located on Thursday Street, off Amedokhian Road, Uromi, has been demolished following investigations and verified intelligence. Speaking on the development, the Secretary of the Edo State Security Squad, codenamed Operation Flush Out Kidnappers and Cultists, Barrister John Izegaegbe, said investigations revealed that Okoduwa was allegedly connected to a chain of kidnapping activities in Uromi. Izegaegbe alleged that the suspect was responsible for coordinating criminal operations by bring...

Minister of Defence, Musa Says Considering Recruiting journalists Into Troops  Iduozee Efe Paul, Benin  The federal government is considering a new initiative that would allow journalists to accompany military personnel during selected operations. This was said to be in a bid to improve security reporting and give the public greater insight into the realities of counterinsurgency and other internal security efforts, reports The PUNCH. The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, disclosed the plan at the National Security Summit organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Abuja, yesterday. Represented by his Special Adviser, Rear Admiral Olusanya Bankole, the minister said the proposed arrangement would foster closer collaboration between the media and security agencies while promoting transparency in military activities. Musa noted that the media plays a strategic role in shaping public perception of security operations and national stability, adding that ...

  Okpebholo Threatens Death Warrant for Criminals, Rewards Police Over Vegetable Market Kidnap Arrest Edo State Governor Senator Monday Okpebholo has issued a blunt warning to criminals operating in the state: those who persist in crime will face prosecution, and he will personally sign their execution warrant. Okpebholo made the declaration on Thursday during a parade of suspects at the Edo State Police Command headquarters in Benin City, where he also rewarded officers who arrested a suspect linked to Sunday's kidnapping at the Vegetable Market. "We are going to set up a special court to prosecute kidnappers and cultists. Within two weeks, the court is done with proceedings. I will sign your execution. We will take you to Ring Road roundabout so that Edo people can watch. I will have no regret about it. Don't take my simplicity for granted," the governor said. Governor Okpebholo said he acted swiftly after the Sunday incident, immediately directing the C...

UK Court Acquits  Diezani Alison-Madueke Of All Six Bribery Charges By Editor  Former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been found not guilty by a London jury of six bribery charges following a rare corruption trial involving a former high-ranking energy official. Alison-Madueke, who served as petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. She denied all the allegations. Prosecutors alleged that the 65-year-old former minister enjoyed “a life of luxury” in London, allegedly funded by oil and gas industry figures seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria, a country long challenged by corruption and mismanagement in its oil sector. However, Alison-Madueke maintained that she never received any bribes and insisted she had no control over the awarding of government contracts. After proceedings at Southwark Crown Court...

NWFLPMDF SALUTES EDO QUEENS FC ON 2026 LEAGUE TRIUMPH By Editor  The NWFL Premiership Media Directors Forum (NWFLPMDF) extends her warmest congratulations to Edo Queens FC on their hard-fought and well-deserved victory at the just concluded 2026 NWFL Premiership Super Six playoffs in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. After a hard-fought campaign marked by excellence and resilience, Edo Queens FC proved their mettle by going ahead of other equally formidable challengers to clinch the title and a ticket to represent the nation at the continent for the second time. The Forum urges the champions to carry Nigeria’s flag with pride and resilience as they get ready to represent the nation at the WAFU-B Women’s Zonal playoffs in Burkina Faso from August 13 - September 05 where they will be expected to secure ticket for the CAF Women's champions League and a potential route to the FiFA Women's Club World Cup. The Benin-based topflights were the fourth best side in Africa in their...

JAMB Releases 2026 UTME Original Result Slips For Printing By Editor  The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that candidates who sat for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will be able to print their Original Result Slips from Wednesday, June 17, 2026.   This was disclosed on Wednesday in a statement issued by JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin. According to the statement, the original result slips contain candidates’ photographs, national ranking, and other security features required for post-UTME screening and admission processes in tertiary institutions. “The 2026 UTME Original Result Slip will be available for printing within the next two hours today, Wednesday, 17th June, 2026,” the statement read.   It added, “The Original Result Slip contains the candidate’s photograph, national ranking, and other security features.   It is part of the official document required for post-UTME processing and consi...

NDLEA, Nigerian Senate Synergise On Fighting Illicit Drugs Trafficking As Committee Chairman, Ikpea Visits Agency By Editor  The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Drugs and Narcotics Senator Joseph Ikpea has assured the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) would continue to provide the necessary legislative backing to strengthen the agency’s capacity, improve operational effectiveness, and enhance its ability to discharge its mandate efficiently. Senator Ikpea made the commitment on Monday June 15, 2026, when he paid a familiarisation visit to the Abuja headquarters of the NDLEA where he was received by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), alongside his management team. Briefing General Marwa on the purpose of his visit, the senator paid glowing tribute to General Marwa’s leadership, acknowledging the remarkable transformation that had taken place within the agency in recent years. He also praised the NDLEA’s r...

CRPP Berates Okpebholo For  Kidnapping In Edo  ...Laments  Abduction Of Woman In Vegetable Market  Iduozee Efe Paul, Benin  Coalition of Registered Political Parties (CRPP), has castigated the Edo state governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo for the incessant kidnapping in the state. The coalition also lamented about the recent abduction of a woman in vegetable market on June 14, 2026,  after kidnappers failed to abduct the man. This followed a statement issued and titled:"Edo now under siege of kidnappers and criminals, we're tired of lamentation," by  Dr. Samson Isibor, the National  Chairman, and Hon. Nkama Waribe, National Secretary, of CRPP, said despite the 1 billion naira that governor Okpebholo is  receiving every month as security vote that crimes and criminality are escalating everyday in Edo state. According to Dr. Isibor, said because of the continuous crimes and insecurity that have overwhelmed the three senatorial distri...

POS Operator, Bashir Jailed 20 Years For ₦20k Commission on  Transfer To Boko Haram Member   ...As Convict Admitted  He received ₦5 Million From Boko Haram By Editor  A Maiduguri-based businessman, Umar Bashir, has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment without option of fine after he was convicted of terrorism financing. Bashir, who claimed to be a major dealer in oil perfumes and also a Point of Sale operator, was found guilty of using his bank account to carry out financial transactions for members of the Boko Haram sect. The Federal Government arraigned him on Monday before Justice Binta Fatimah Nyako on charges linked to terrorism financing. According to the prosecution, Bashir used his United Bank for Africa account number 2213629628 to receive and transfer money on behalf of Boko Haram members. He specifically admitted that he received ₦5 million from a Boko Haram member identified as Ibrahim Modu and later transferred the money into the terrorist...

OPINION: Northern Nigeria Will Soon Kill Nigeria   _President Bola Tinubu, in his June 12 broadcast, condemned terrorists and their work but told us not to “assign blame or point fingers” because “crime has no ethnicity.” Crime may indeed have no ethnicity, but that does not relieve us of the duty to identify the environment that breeds and sustains it. A desert does not cease to be a desert because it contains a few oases._   _As I write this, Yoruba schoolchildren and their teachers have spent one full month in captivity, held in the bush by badly brought up boys from northern Nigeria. Exposed to the rain, exposed to the sun, the abducted remain bargaining chips in a conflict they knew nothing of. Their captors reportedly demand the release of northern terrorist commanders in northern detention centres._   _A friend heard the president and said this president is as afraid of the North as all those before him. The fear of the North is regularly...

Operation Flush Out Cultists: Suspected Ritualist Buildings Demolished, Another Sealed in Edo By Editor  The Edo State Government has demolished a building allegedly linked to cultism and ritual activities, while sealing another property in Uromi, Esan North-East Local Government Area, in a renewed crackdown on crime and criminal networks in the state. The operation, carried out under “Operation Flush Out Kidnappers and Cultists,” involved the Edo State Security Corp (ESSC), the Nigeria Police Force, and other security agencies under the supervision of senior security officials attached to Governor Monday Okpebholo. Speaking during the exercise, the Secretary of the Edo State Security Squad, Barr. John Izegaegbe, said the intervention followed intelligence and field findings in the area. He stated: “We are here on the marching order of Governor Monday Okpebholo and getting here we discovered that it's a ritual and a murder case.” According to him, one of the...

SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (SWAN), EDO STATE CHAPTER 15 June 2026 CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO EDO  Edo SWAN Greets Edo Queens For Emerging Champions Of 2026 NWFL On behalf of the Executive Council and entire membership of the Sports Writers' Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Edo State Chapter, we extend our warmest congratulations to the Executive Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, Hon. SWAN, the management, coaching crew, players, and supporters of Edo Queens Football Club on their remarkable emergence as champions of the 2026 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership. This outstanding achievement represents yet another glorious chapter in the history of the club, coming after its landmark title success in 2024. It is a fitting reward for the team's resilience, discipline, hard work, and unwavering commitment to excellence. Your journey to the championship crown was nothing short of inspirational. After suffering defeat in the opening match o...

TUESDAY FLAT OUT OPINION: Davido, Reno Omokri And Arítúlà's Lost Sparrow   By Suyi Ayodele (Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday, June 16, 2026) https://tribuneonlineng.com/davido-reno-omokri-and-aritulas-lost-sparrow/   On June 10, 2026, at the FIFA World Cup Countdown Concert in Los Angeles, David Adeleke, better known as Davido, stepped onto one of the world's biggest stages wearing a jacket with a simple message: "Bring Them Back."   The message was not about fashion. It was not about music. It was about the schoolchildren and teachers abducted from Oriire area of Oyo State more than a month earlier and still held in captivity by terrorists.   Millions saw the message. Millions who knew nothing about the tragedy in Oriire suddenly became aware that somewhere in Nigeria, children who should have been in classrooms were spending their days and nights in the bush at the mercy of armed criminals, inclement weather and poisonous vipers!.   One...

Edo Senator, Ikpea, Harps On Local Security Initiatives To Curtail Banditry, Other Crimes  ...Expresses Worry Over State Of Security In Nigeria  The Senator representing Edo Central Senatorial District, Joseph Ikpea, has said that for Nigeria to successfully curtail the spiral rate of insecurity in the country, the various local government areas must take local initiatives suitable for their environments as security measures against the menace of banditry, kidnapping and other crimes confronting the nation.   Senator Ikpea, who gave the admonition in Benin City, Edo State capital, while speaking with journalists, expressed worry over the state of security in the country and its seemingly intractable nature.      The senator said the three security outposts he built in parts of Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State when he was the chairman of the local government area, are what security agencies are using today to check insecurity in...

Nigeria: Democracy, Borrow-cracy Selfo-cracy, Wayo-cracy Or Demonstration of Crase? EBEN ENASCO REPORTING. Every June 12, Nigeria marks Democracy Day with speeches, parades, and promises. But scratch beneath the surface and you will hear different vocabulary in market squares, offices, and social media spaces, like; "Borrow-cracy, Selfo-cracy, Wayo-cracy, and Demonstration of craze". Despite Nigeria sustaining uninterrupted democratic governance since 1999, making it the country’s longest period of civilian administration since independence, genuine dividends of democracy have eluded citizens. Amidst plenty, citizens now lobby for what to eat, drink and power daily necessities. Waves of self aggrandizement, notorious policies and deepening  Judiciary corrupt practices heaping loads of concern with no end in sight for the commons. The words sting because they point to a gap between the idea of democracy and the way it feels to live in it. Today, citizens no longer ...

Edo Queens Emerges Winner Of 2026 NWFL Super Six Champions ...As Enabulele Dedicates Triumph To Gov Okpebholo Edo Queens Football Club have been crowned champions of the 2026 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership Super Six Finals after securing a hard-fought goalless draw against defending champions Bayelsa Queens in the decisive Matchday 5 fixture on Sunday. The highly anticipated encounter, which lived up to its billing as a title decider, was played at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where the 2024 champions demonstrated resilience, composure, and tactical discipline to hold their opponents and seal their championship triumph. The result confirmed Edo Queens as the best-performing side in the Super Six playoffs, capping an impressive campaign defined by determination, teamwork, and a never-say-die attitude under head coach Moses Aduku. Aduku’s achievement also marked another milestone in his managerial career, as he secured his s...

CRPP Calls For Sack Of Edo Commissioner, Afegbua For For Attacking Opposition  ... Describes Him Unprofessional For rendering Incompetent Function Iduozee Efe Paul, Benin  The Coalition of Registered Political Parties (CRPP) has called for the sack of Edo state commissioner for information and strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua for attacking opposition parties in the state consistently. The coalition also described Prince  Afegbua as incompetent in projecting and defending the state government in an unprofessional manner due to his inability to recognise the function of the opposition parties in Edo State. The body also lampooned on governor Monday Okpebholo regime for the persistence insecurity that have overwhelmed the state and demand for urgent solutions to curb the menace. This follows a statement issued by Dr. Samson Isibor, National Chairman, Hon. Nka a Waribe, National Secretary, of CRPP posited that  Afegbua in speaking for the state government is u...

*NUJ South-South Salutes Festus Alenkhe’s Appointment as EBS Ag. MD _ The South-South Zonal Executive Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has congratulated Edo State Council Chairman, Comrade Festus Alenkhe, on his appointment as Acting Managing Director of Edo Broadcasting Service, EBS. In a communiqué issued Saturday, June 13, 2026, at the end of its meeting in Calabar, Cross River state , the zonal meeting presided over by its Vice President,  Comrade Opaka Dokubo,  commended Edo state Governor Senator Monday Okpebholo for appointing Festus  Alenkhe, describing it as a well-deserved recognition of his leadership. The NUJ South ,south zone described the appointment as a round peg in a round hole. The Council further condemned attacks, harassment and cyberbullying against journalists in the zone and urged security agencies to act swiftly.  It expressed concern over worsening insecurity nationwide and called on South-South governments to str...

Owa Monarch Calls For  Comprehensive Investigation Into Deadly Train Derailment ... Mourns Victims Who Lost Their Lives Iduozee Efe Paul, Benin  The Obi of Owa Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Obi Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor II, JP, OON, has called for a thorough investigation into the immediate and underlying causes of the train derailment that occurred four days ago at Owa-Oyibu in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State, resulting in the loss of four lives and injuries to several passengers. The revered monarch made the call during a visit to the scene of the tragic incident, where he urged relevant government authorities and security agencies to unravel the circumstances surrounding the accident and identify those responsible for any acts of sabotage. Obi Efeizomor expressed concern over intelligence reports indicating that suspected vandals frequently operate along the railway corridor at night, allegedly removing metal components and other critical infrastr...