An employee of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been kidnapped by gunmen and a ransom of ₦40 million demanded for her release in Anambra State.

The incident was said to have occurred at the Ebenebe axis of Awka North Local Government Area of the state.

The abduction was reported by security analyst Zagazola Makama who said it occurred shortly after another attack on a businessman in the same area.

The report says the INEC staff identified as Christy Nkiru Okeke was seized around 7 pm on July 24.

Her husband later reported the incident at the B Division Police Headquarters in Awka after the kidnappers contacted the family, demanding a sum of ₦40m for her release, the report added.

Details surrounding her kidnapping weren’t immediately clear as of the time of this report.

But security operatives are said to have commenced search for the victim and rescue her from the abductors.

A businessman, Emmanuel Nwobodo, was said to have escaped a similar attack around the Ebenebe Community Secondary School about one hour before the INEC worker was abducted.

According to the report, Nwobodo was coming back from Oba when four armed men dressed in dark clothing allegedly opened fire on his Mercedes-Benz.

The businessman is said to have sped away to escape the scene despite the attack.

Later he learned he had been shot in the left knee.

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The report also said the gunmen damaged his vehicle, damaging the rear seat belt guard and radiator.

Another staff member known as Tochukwu Afunenu was also said to have fled into a nearby bush during the incident.

The report said when he allegedly ran into the bush, Afunenu had with him the businessman’s ATM card and two mobile phones.

Nwobodo allegedly became suspicious when messages were allegedly sent from Afunenu’s phone claiming the staff was kidnapped.

The messages demanded a ransom of ₦40m for his release, it was reported.

The development has raised concerns among security operatives who are now investigating whether the staff member was actually kidnapped or if the incident was linked to the earlier attack on the businessman.

The police had started a rescue operation for the abducted INEC staff and those behind the attacks, the report said.

“Extensive combing of surrounding bushes and intelligence-led tracking operations are underway to rescue the abducted victim and arrest the perpetrators, the report said.

Security operatives are also investigating the possibility that the two incidents are related.

The report added that investigators were trying to find out whether the attacks along the same road in a short period of time were perpetrated by the same criminal gang.

INEC says attack on one of its Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection centres in Osun State will not affect preparations for the August 15 governorship election in the state.

Naija News reports that the assurance was given by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Dayo Oketola, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

Suspected hoodlums on Sunday attacked officials and carted away electoral materials at the commission’s PVC collection centre at Oyinlola DC School, Ward 2, Okuku.

The stolen items include Permanent Voter Cards and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS devices, it was reported.

The commission, Oketola said, has reported the incident to the police, adding that investigation was already ongoing.

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The choice of former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah to run for a Senate seat in the 2027 general election has raised concerns among some All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) leaders.

The leaders, acting on behalf of Concerned Anambra North Stakeholders (CANS), based their concerns on purported certificate anomalies and an alleged N2.5 billion fraud case that was recently resolved at a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.

Regarding the fraud allegations, the leaders contend that the recent court case that resulted in Justice Hamza Muazu of the FCT High Court winding up her two companies and forfeiting roughly N2 billion to the Federal Government of Nigeria in a plea bargain arrangement, along with the purported unresolved inconsistencies in her academic records, raise red flags for APGA to risk giving its platform to her.

Recall that on March 26, in accordance with a plea bargain agreement, Justice Muazu found Oduah’s two companies, Sobora International Limited and Global Offshore and Marine Limited, guilty after she entered a guilty plea on their behalf. She also issued an order winding them up and mandated that the N780 million recovered during the investigation and the N1.2 billion paid as restitution be forfeited to the federal government.

Additionally, the leaders claimed that the former minister violated Sections 66(1)(i) and 315(5)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution by making “false statements” in documents she submitted under oath to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the general elections in 2015, 2019, and 2023.

Since 2015, Oduah has allegedly made conflicting statements regarding her credentials, credentials, and academic records, which she has allegedly neglected to correct.

They petitioned Professor Charles Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, asking him to use his position as the APGA’s national leader to persuade the party’s leadership not to give Oduah the ticket for the Anambra North senatorial district due to purportedly unresolved concerns regarding her credibility.

In the May 4 petition, which was signed by Sylvester Nnalue and Emmanuel Uduaka, CANS stated that it wanted to convince APGA not to make the mistake of giving the former minister its platform and to keep her from running in the party’s next Anambra North senatorial district primary election because of the potential harm to the party.

According to CANS, it is requesting that Soludo be made aware of “the discrepancies and outright concealment in the documents and credentials presented by Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under oath in her previous INEC Forms C.F.001/Affidavit in support of personal particulars of persons seeking election to the office/membership of senate for the 2015, 2019, and 2023 general elections.

“Those forms, together with the fraudulent information they contain, are already in the public domain and have legally become public papers. They cannot be retracted and will always be used against her.

We implore Your Excellency to grant Senator Oduah stringent documentation supporting all of her assertions regarding her primary school attendance and certificate.

Contrary to her statements in the aforementioned documents that she submitted to INEC, the police, and the courts, we firmly think that she never took and passed any primary school leaving exam and was never granted a First School Leaving Certificate. This will result in legal action and expose the party to the Electoral Act’s Section 29(5)(6).43

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The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has said that the Igbo need to interrogate their claims of marginalisation, to know whether the clamour for secession is right or wrong.

Soludo made the remark Tuesday while delivering the 6th Biennial Adada Lecture organised by the Association of Nsukka Professors at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

The ivory tower no longer interrogates issues, as it used to, he said, which was surprising. Universities, he insisted, have generally lowered the bar of critical thinking.

“The declaration of the Nigeria-Biafra war was made from this hall (UNN) and the justification or otherwise of that declaration should have been questioned by the university community.

“We are creating thousands of papers that never leave the shelves, while the country is struggling for real solutions.

“Nigeria is drowning in more noise, less light. We must condemn the widening gap between classroom ideas and government action. Knowledge that does not feed into policy is no knowledge at all.

“The future of the Igbo is in a united Nigeria. Igbo intellectuals should lead the debate, not street rhetoric.

“Don’t stand there with your hands on your hips while the nation drifts, the silence from the intellectual class could cost Africa dearly. Talent is not enough, if you don’t act, you are part of the problem,” the governor said.

Soludo told the scholars that history favoured doers and not writers and cited global icons like Isaac Newton, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah.

Soludo challenged the lecturers to look inward and said that intellectualism without action is sterile.

The post Igbos Must Interrogate Marginalization Claims Before Biafra Agitation – Soludo appeared first on TheNigerian.

A guy named Mr. Chinedu Udeh was brutally attacked and kidnapped from his home studio in Awka by armed men wearing military uniforms during a startling late-night raid.

Residents are deeply concerned by the occurrence, which happened on April 5, 2026, at around two in the morning. Many are wondering who the attackers are and why they did it.

The roughly six attackers were described by witnesses as intimidating and well-armed.

They arrived armed and dressed in military attire. One neighbor remarked, “I don’t know if they were actual soldiers conducting an operation.”

“They kicked him and struck him hard with the butt of their guns,” the person continued. He was calling out for assistance, but no one could get near him because the men threatened to shoot anyone who attempted to step in. There was blood all over the area.

According to reports, the gunmen scared and panicked the locals by forcing Chinedu into a waiting car before speeding off to an unidentified place.

It was unclear at the time this report was filed whether the attackers were criminals posing as military personnel or actual security personnel.

Mr. Chinedu’s location was still unclear.
Residents have urged security services to look into the issue immediately and make sure the victim is rescued safely.

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Anambra’s law enforcement agencies have increased security around the state, particularly in the capital city of Awka, in preparation for Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s second term.

In what many referred to as a landslide win, Soludo was re-elected for a second term on November 8, 2025.

He will take the oath of office for a second term at Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

The event is expected to attract a number of dignitaries, which is why the state is well guarded.

In order to prepare for the impending event, the state police command and their counterparts, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, or NSCDC, have already sent agents to key areas of the state.

The NSCDC reported that it has deployed troops for surveillance and intelligence gathering while police are deploying operatives, including 100 recently trained and equipped personnel undergoing armed and combat training from the Police College, Oji River.

In a statement released on Sunday, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, a spokesperson for the state police command, stated: “To ensure a peaceful and hitch-free event, the Command has stepped up security advocacy and public sensitization as well as operations across the state, in collaboration with other security agencies.”

Recall that a few days ago, the Police College Oji River sent one hundred (100) highly qualified and equipped troops to the Police Command for armed and combat training.

“To maintain law and order prior to, during, and following the inauguration ceremony, the officers will supplement the strategically deployed personnel to key locations, strengthen patrols, and enhance intelligence gathering.”

“As efforts are being made to guarantee the safety of all dignitaries and members of the public, the command also urges residents, stakeholders, and visitors expected for the event to remain law-abiding and cooperate with security personnel.”

However, Maku Olatunde, the state NSCDC Commandant, told reporters during a briefing that “the protection of Anambra residents and Critical National Assets and Infrastructure is paramount to us, and my operatives, both armed and others on covert operation, are ready to give this national assignment its best.”

“At this moment, we cannot permit vandals and miscreants to use the festive atmosphere to commit crimes against the state and its citizens. In order to thwart the plans of evildoers who might want to carry out their evil schemes, my staff is on round-the-clock surveillance in dark areas.

“We urge the state’s citizens to turn out in large numbers to support the Anambra State Executive Governor as he takes the oath of office for a second term.”

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The February salaries of employees who did not show up for work on Mondays—days that the Indigenous People of Biafra had previously designated as sit-at-home days—were cut by the Anambra State Government.

In an attempt to put an end to the Monday sit-at-home, the state administration reportedly announced the start of pro-rata wage payments for workers throughout the state, stating that starting in February 2026, governmental servants’ salaries will be paid in accordance with pro-rata.

Additionally, the state government took advantage of the occasion to declare that the sit-at-home protest was over.

For several employees, however, it was a tale of sorrow when they received the warnings regarding their February paychecks, which included large deductions and a pay reduction.

Some employees at the Jerome Udoji State Secretariat in Awka, the state capital, complained to reporters on Tuesday that their salary deductions did not match the number of Mondays they missed work.

A coworker in his ministry barely received N10,000 for February after the deductions, according to one employee who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of being harmed.

Another Ministry of Information employee bemoaned receiving only N3,500 of his gross salary of around N80,000.

“One of my coworkers said she received her salary with N10,000 deducted,” he stated.

“The cuts are irregular, but some people who missed work only once or twice had significant deductions from their salaries, so I believe there were computation errors.”

“I am surprised to see huge deductions when I received the alert for my February salary,” stated another impacted employee. My pay was reduced by more than N80,000 because I missed two Mondays of work. Two Mondays weren’t intended to be up to that amount, therefore I believe the calculation was off.

Dr. Law Mefor, the state Commissioner for Information, acknowledged to reporters on Tuesday that the deductions were a penalty for missing work on Mondays.

“The salary cut is a punishment for failing to come to work on Mondays,” Mefor stated. On Mondays, you were instructed to clock in and out when you arrived at work. That is to show that you came to work.

“However, if you arrived at work on Mondays but failed to clock in and out, it indicates that you were absent because there is no proof that you were present.”

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After Nkwo Nnewi Spare Parts Market disobeyed a government directive to start opening markets on Mondays, Anambra State Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo closed the market for a week.

Chief Evarist Uba, the governor’s special adviser on trade and markets, closed the market on his behalf, according to a news statement issued by Dr. Law Mefor, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information.

Just three weeks have passed since Soludo visited Onitsha Main Market and closed it due to its Monday closure.

“I hereby notify the general public that New Auto Spare Parts Associiation (NASPA) Market, Nkwo Nnewi, is closed for business,” he said.

The market was shut down as a result of poor adherence to Mr. Governor Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s directive to terminate the Monday sit-at-home campaign in Anambra State.

“The Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Markets, Chief Evarist Uba, along with the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, AVM Ben Chiobi (Rtd), and Nnewi Mayor, Hon. Anzodo Echezona.

As a result, the market will reopen on Monday, March 2, 2026, after closing at midnight tonight, Monday, February 23, 2026.

He cautioned that in order to prevent problems with law enforcement, traders and customers are encouraged to stay away from the market until Monday of next week.

If compliance is not significant by next Monday, when the market reopens, he continued, the market might be further closed.

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A tanker explosion on the Ihiala-Onitsha Road in the Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra on Sunday claimed the lives of two people, directly across from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) headquarters.

To reporters in Awka, Mrs. Bridget Asekhauno, Sector Commander (FRSC) in Anambra, verified the occurrence.

A motorcycle without a registration number and a commercial tanker carrying combustible material were engaged in the incident, according to Asekhauno.

Before an explosion happened, witnesses reported that the speeding tanker driver lost control and collided with a roadside barricade, affecting a motorcycle that was following.

“While the motorcyclist was injured and rescued, the tanker driver and his conductor perished in the explosion.”

“Two of the three male adults involved in the collision were reported dead, while one injured victim was transported to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Ihiala for medical attention.

FRSC rescue workers and fire service personnel came quickly to the scene and put out the fire, according to the sector commander.

She expressed her condolences to the families of the dead and advised drivers to abide by speed restrictions and pay close attention when driving in order to avoid preventable collisions.

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