Joachim Okhai

Belgian Judge Frees Ousted Catalan Leader Pending Extradition Decision Carles Puigdemont and four former regional officials, wanted in Spain on charges of rebellion, sedition and misappropriation of public funds, are banned from leaving country. A Belgian judge ordered the conditional release of ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four former officials sought by Spain. Mr. Puigdemont and his allies on Sunday had turned themselves in to Belgian authorities, after Spanish authorities on Friday requested their extraditions following their flight to Brussels last week. The ousted officials and Mr. Puigdemont are wanted in Spain on charges of rebellion, sedition and misappropriation of public funds as part of their two-year bid to see Catalonia secede from Spain. The Belgian judge, after holding hearings with Mr. Puigdemont, the other four officials and their lawyers, decided to release them under condition that they don’t leave Belgium, the Brussels prosecutor’s office ...

Catholic to allow married priest - Report. Pope Francis has reportedly given nod to a debate to consider the po ssibility of married men becoming priests. Pope Francis Vatican sources were quoted to have said the pontiff has requested a conversation over allowing married men in the Amazon region of Brazil to be ordained as priests. This follows a request made by Claudio Hummes, a cardinal and president of the Episcopal commission for the Amazon, on discussing the partial lifting of priestly celibacy in the region. Il Messaggero, an Italian newspaper, quoted sources as saying Hummes had asked Francis to consider ordaining married men of great faith — referred to as ‘viri probati’ — who are capable of ministering spiritually to the people of the Amazon where there is a shortage of priests. It is thought that there is just one priest for every 10,000 Catholics in the region where evangelical Christians and pagan sects are reportedly displacing Catholicism. The issue wil...

RRS Arrests Human Trafficker, Rescues Two Victims The Operatives of Rapid Response Squad, RRS, of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a suspected human trafficker while trying to transportt two teenage girls through Lagos to Abidjan in Ivory Coast for commercial sex work. The suspect, Martha Edea, 30, a mother of two from Ogoja in Cross River State, was nabbed in Lagos after travelling with the young girls from Benin, Edo State. Martha confessed to the police that she was trafficked to Ivory Coast by one Mariam who told her there were chances of securing a good job in the country but was later introduced to sex work where she slaved for months in paying back her custodian who brought her to Abidjan. Martha said: “I worked for three months to pay Mariam about 300,000 Cefa ( N180,000) to balance her for my transportation into Ivory Coast and also for connecting me”. She added that Mariam after collecting the money travelled to Spain abandoning her as a sex worker. ...

Jim Iyke found guilty of fraud, Ordered to pay Victim back N15.7m Nollywood actor Jim Iyke, has been found guilty of fraud in an ongoing case between him and a Nigerian socialite Hajiya Habiba, who accused the actor of defrauding her N15million. According to the lady, she runs a charity organization called Elderly and the poor, a self-sponsored charity organization. Jim Iyke needed help for his aged mother who is crippled by leg problems and high blood pressure and now bed-ridden to which she obliged and flew her to the UK and India for treatment. It was reported that trouble started after Jim told the lady to come and invest some money in his company by buying 15 percent equity. The lady, believing the business to be genuine considering the status of the star actor in the society after series of documentation deposited the money into his Oceanic Bank account number 00500173691. However, when Habiba expected returns from the investment and with nothing coming from her millions,...

Commuters and travelers plying the Owerri-Okigwe highway have made an appeal to the Federal and state government to commence immediate repairs on the bad spots on the Owerri-Okigwe highway. The numerous bad spots on the 59 kilometre stretch Owerri-Okigwe highway has made it a death trap making commuters lament that a journey of less than one hour now takes over two hours due to the dilapidated state of the road. The Owerri-Okigwe road is a 59-kilometer stretch highway constructed by the Federal Government, over three decades ago, its the major link between Owerri, Okigwe, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi State. Since it’s collapse many years ago, it has become a shadow of its former self especially at different spots and areas like Akabo, Amaraku, and the latest is the Obiohuru in Isiala Mbano local government area of Imo state. Just as commuters are struggling to maneuver the bad spot, some youths in the area have also turned the spot into a toll point in return...