ANAMBRA EXTORTION RACKET

• Criminal gangs take over state; swindle, brutalise citizens
• Govt loses billions to touts 
It was a sunny afternoon and Onitsha, the commercial nerve center of Anambra State was in its usual bubble. Commercial drivers, cyclists and pedestrians competed for space in the midst of blaring horns and sounds from roadside music record stores.
The setting was Upper Iweka Road by Port Harcourt Road junction near Ochanja Market. A tricycle operator carrying bales of clothes tied in a sack was coming from the Ochanja end trying to climb the flyover when suddenly two boys clutching logs of wood and cane sticks accosted him, demanding for money. Shouting in Igbo language, one of them said: “Nwokem nye anyi ife anyi ozigbo, meaning, Mr, give us our thing immediately.
The tricycle rider in annoyance told them that they should not disturb him since he just paid to their colleagues at Ochanja roundabout, a distance of about five poles to the particular spot they were. The rider’s comment was like a lit match stick thrown into a fuel container as the boys just angrily retorted. “Biko jide ya ebe ahu, onye gwalu gi na obu ndi otu anyi no ebe ahu. Meaning, enough of that, who told you that the group you ‘settled’ is the same as ours.

FAMILY BRAWL: JS2 STUDENT SHOT DEAD BY DAD

ANGRY polygamous father, Chief Nicholas Anamene, has allegedly shot and murdered his son, Ugochukwu Anamene, over polygamous family brawl.
Hundreds of people, last weekend, gathered at the compound of Chief Anamene, in Ezieke Umuolhi Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, to witness the burial of the murdered Ugochukwu Anamene.
Ugochukwu, before he was allegedly shot by his father with a pump action gun, was a JS2 dropout but had started learning motorcycle spare parts trade.
His polygamous father with 10 wives, who claimed that he shot him mistakenly, claimed that on the particular day, “I mistakenly shot at my son around 8.30 p.m. and fainted when I discovered I shot him to death.”

HOUSE WIFE DIES AFTER ROUNDS OF SEX

FEAR gripped the residents of Abubor, Nnewichi in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, last Monday, when they woke up to a bizzare news of a mother of three children, Mrs Ijeoma Ifebunwa, who collapsed and died from exhaustion after marathon rounds of sex with her newfound lover boy on her matrimonial bed.
The Nigerian Tribune checks gathered that Mrs Ifebunwa aged 30, invited her new boy friend, whose names were given as Okechukwu Ani, to come and pass the night with her in their one- room apartment at Akubor Nnewichi, Nnewi.
The lover boy who happily accepted the invitation got to her house at about 9.00 p.m., but had to excuse her for some time by leaving the house as her three children who were still waiting for dinner had not slept at the time. However, he returned to the house at about 11.00 p.m. for romance with his lover, under an agreement with the woman that he would pay N1,500, being part- payment of the agreed sum of N2,000 for the romance, with a promise to pay the balance of N500.00 the following day.

APPEAL COURT SACKS 6 PDP LAWMAKERS FROM ANAMBRA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has sacked Pharm. Obinna Emenaka, John Olibie, Rebecca Udorji, Paulinus Onyeka and Vivian Okadigbo from the Anambra State House of Assembly.
The presiding Judge had sacked the PDP members following their non participation in the PDP Primaries held by the National Working Committee of the party prior to the April general election.
In the suit number CA/A/593/2011 brought by Hon. Umerie Uchenna (Lake),Hon. Ikenna Amechi, Hon. Boniface Okonkwo etc, challenged the legality of the recognition of the appellants as members representing different constituencies in the State House of Assembly.

ANAMBRA DECIDES OBI'S SUCCESSOR TODAY

• 23 candidates in race for gubernatorial seat • INEC, police express readiness for smooth election
After weeks of intense campaigns by governorship candidates from 23 political parties, the 1,784,536 registered voters in Anambra State will today decide who will administer the affairs of the state for the next four years.
Today's election, which is seen as a straight contest between the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), has 23 candidates contesting to succeed incumbent Governor Peter Obi.
To ensure a hitch-free election, all entry points into the state would remain closed as from 6pm Friday to Sunday. Already, security had been beefed up at the Asaba, Onitsha boundary and Enugu, Awka boundary and the Oguta boundary.

BLACK SATURDAY: 28 FEARED DEAD AT ANAMBRA NIGHT VIGIL

•OBI, NGIGE, DIGS VISIT SCENE, VICTIMS
•Govt vows to probe incident
•Police launch investigation
Ghost Night vigil, one of the most popular faith healing gatherings in Anambra state, ended on a tragic note yesterday at Uke in Idemili North Local Government area.
Twenty-eight of the participants in this month’s edition of the session laid dead after a stampede.
The state was in a pensive mood yesterday as news of the tragedy spread.
There were conflicting reports about the cause of the stampede.
One version put out by the Chairman, Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) in Anambra state, Comrade Aloysius Attah, stated that trouble started toward the end of the prayer session after a fire spark from the make-shift stall of a fried plantain seller at the ground.

EX-DEPUTY GOV’S MURDER: FAMILY THOUGHT WE WERE KIDDING – KIDNAPPERS

A note left on the corpse of the killed former deputy governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chudi Nwike, by his kidnappers has shown that they were provoked by the family’s failure to bring the ransom they demanded for his release in cash.

Nwike’s kidnappers, according to the police in Delta State, where his body was found, left a note and cheque on him, saying: “For the fact that you thought we were joking and you refused to pay the ransom, this is the result of your action.”

 Spokesman of the Delta State police command ASP Lucky Uyabeme, who confirmed the incident, said efforts were being made by the police to bring the culprits to book.

Nwike’s body was on Thursday identified among three corpses dumped at the entrance of Alizomor village in Ika South local government area of the state.

NORTHERNERS IN ANAMBRA RUN TO POLICE, ARMY

•Bayero: we don’t know why this is happening
•ANPP urges Fed Govt to be proactive
•House of Reps wants end to terrorism

Following Monday’s suicide bomb attack in a Kano motor park, northerners in Awka, the Anambra State capital and Onitsha are leaving for fear of reprisal attacks.

They closed their business premises to seek protection at the Artillery Regiment of the Army and Central Police Station, Onitsha.

The police and army yesterday tried to douse the tension.

Tensions were further heightened when members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) were sighted on major roads in Onitsha and Awka.

ANAMBRA 2014: CONTENDERS, PRETENDERS FOR OBI’S JOB

EXACTLY 367 days to the expiration of Governor Peter Obi’s second term, the Anambra political firmament is astir. A horde of aspirants are on the prowl seeking to occupy the office that will be vacated by the Aguata, Anambra Central-born politician, who is the first person to win re-election and complete eight years as governor of the state.

To gain an upper hand in the electoral battle that is expected to be held anytime between November 2013 and January 2014, each of the leading aspirants has embarked on intense grassroots mobilization, sensitization and consultation with critical stakeholders. They are also building and strengthening political platforms as most of the leading parties are engulfed by one crisis or the other.

The aspirants

ANAMBRA 2014: IFEANYI UBA DECLARES FOR GUBER RACE

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Dr Ifeanyi Uba on Sunday in his hometown, Nnewi, Anambra State formally declared his interest in the Anambra 2014 gubernatorial race against all odds. Dr Uba made the declaration in Anaedo Hall, Nnewi during a solidarity rally organized in his honour by a socio-cultural organization, Igboezue Unity Association.

Uba said his reason for joining the governorship contest was the passion he had for good leadership and alleviation of people from their sufferings. He insisted that he had all it took to be the governor of Anambra State since, according to him, he was well nurtured by his parents who were all teachers “and because of my good upbringing and God’s favour, I’m always successful in any venture I step in.”

IN ANAMBRA, ARMS HAVE CODE NAMES

In Anambra state, guns are literally everywhere but no one cares to know the sources. Criminals have easy access to both the local and the sophisticated weapons of death in the black markets while vigilante groups in communities wield guns procured mainly from local manufacturers.

On September 20, 2012, one Paul Odunze and a driver were arrested by the police in a compound at Umudioka in Dunukofia local governmemt area while loading 100 bags of ammunition and 27 guns into a vehicle. On interrogation, Odunze confessed that the guns comprising 15 Pump Action and 12 double-barrel guns were to be sold to local vigilante groups and that he had been in the business for a long time. During the same period, a notorious armed robber and kidnap kingpin, Olisa Ifedike a.k.a Ofeakwu, was arrested. In the course of a house search, a cache of arms and ammunition were discovered.