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Rivers Serial Killer Makes U-Turn, Denies Being Guilty

Suspected serial killer Gracious David West has pleaded not guilty to all the 10-count charges read against him in court.
West, who is being tried for the murder of nine girls in similar circumstances in several hotels in Port Harcourt, had three weeks ago pleaded guilty to nine of the 10-count charge.
He, however, made a retraction when the matter came up in court, yesterday.
The suspect pleaded with the court to direct the police to release his wrist watch, money and neck chains.
He was remanded in prison by Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the Rivers State High Court, Port Harcourt, following an oral application by counsel for the state Chidi Eke to enable the state prove its case.
A second accused person, Nimi ThankGod, also pleaded not guilty on the 11-count charge.
ThankGod, who is the manager of the Tourist Guest House at 29 Bende Street, Port Harcourt, where one of the victims was killed, is being charged with conspiring to remove the corpse of the victim from the hotel and dumping it along Aggrey Road.
He was later granted bail in the sum of N500,000, and a surety in like sum.
ThankGod’s counsel, Edward Obiokor, while applying for bail of his client, reminded the court that the hotel manager was charged for misconduct with the corpse and not murder.
He added that she even helped to rescue one of the victims who the prime suspected also attempted to murder in the same hotel, adding that the lucky victim survived the attack and is alive.
In an interview with reporters shortly after the sitting, the Lead Posection Officer from the state Ministry of Justice, Eke, who represented the Attorney-General, said “David-West was arranged before this same court for the killing of nine young women in the state, [and] he pleaded guilty to nine of the 10 charges given to him.
“Today, he has changed his guilty plea to not guilty. However, his guilty plea did not make any difference because the court will still write not guilty for him because he is charged with a capital offence,” Eke stated.
Meanwhile, the court has adjourned the case till December 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19 and 20 for hearing in the matter.
Trial Judge Enebeli promised to adjourn all other cases before hin in each of these days to ensure speedy justice delivery.
In a related development, Rivers State Commissioner of Police Mustapha Dandaura has disclosed that some of the corpses of the girls who were allegedly murdered by Gracious David West are yet to be claimed by their relatives from the mortuary.
Dandaura spoke in Port Harcourt when he received an award from the Port Harcourt Significant Girls Initiatives, maintaining that most of the girls killed by the suspect were prostitutes.
“Let me tell you till today, some of the corpses are still there inside the mortuary.They are still inside the mortuary. Nobody has come to claim them,” he said.
“When I was saying that most of these girls he was killing were prostitutes, some of you took offence that why should I call them prostitutes. One woman started shouting; she fell down on the ground, that even if she is a prostitute that can’t we cover her.
“I said, look, unless you are a prostitute, you will not just follow somebody you don’t know. If you are a decent girl, parents should know your whereabouts”, Dandaura said.
State Police Commissioner Dandaura also said some persons who bought phones from West have been arrested.
Meanwhile, convener of the Port Harcourt Significant Girls Initiative, Nengi Jumbo, said the award was to commend the police for heeding to the calls of residents of the state and taking steps to arrest the serial killer, even as she advised single girls to be careful.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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