News
Chima’s Death: Rivers Mechanics Protest Against Police, Seek Justice
Aggrieved motor mechanics and colleagues of late Chima Ikwunado have protested in Ikoku axis of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, over the victim’s sudden death in police custody.
The protest started in the early hours of yesterday, thereby causing a gridlock, as motorists made a U-turn to avoid the area.
One of the protesters, Emeka Osuji, said the essence of the protest was to demand justice for their colleague, late Chima and the release of their four colleagues held in police detention since December 20, 2019.
He said: “We are not happy, our stand is for the police to release Chima’s corpse to the family or to us, and release the four boys in their detention. This is not fair; what an injustice!”
Osuji also alleged that the police were being economical with the truth about Chima’s death.
“They (police) are not telling the truth, something is not adding up. I strongly believe that Chima was tortured to death and not because of diabetes as they want us to believe,” he insisted.
He maintained that late Chima had no health challenge, let alone excessive sugar in the blood, as being told by the police.
He also asked why the police did not seek Chima’s family’s approval and presence before the so-called autopsy was conducted on the deceased, saying that under normal circumstances, a government hospital would have conducted the autopsy in the presence of his parents to avoid manipulation of results.
Another mechanic, Kelechi Onyekwere, said they were not resting on their oars until justice prevails.
“No matter what the police will do, we will continue to protest until those policemen, who tortured Chima to death, are brought to book and our other boys in their custody released,” Onyekwere declared.
There was burning of tyres at all junctions leading to the popular Ikoku Market.
At 12 noon, police started dispersing the protesters and passersby with teargas canisters; and people were ordered to raise their hands for identification while passing.
The protest paralysed business activities around the environs and created some tension.
Most of the businesses around the Olu Obasanjo area of Port Harcourt had a difficult time accessing their offices, as banks, eatries, and shops in the area were under lock-and-key for the better part of yesterday.
Fierce-looking armed policemen in several patrol vehicles were positioned at some strategic junctions to halt the protesters’ advancement.
It would be recalled that since news of the victim’s death broke out in Port Harcourt, it has generated serious public outrage.
The owner of the vehicle, which the deceased and four others were reportedly driving in, had told members of the public that Chima was his mechanic for the past four years and his car was not stolen.
Other aggrieved persons, who knew the deceased maintained that the victim was tortured by the police, and he had no health challenge as claimed by the police.
Last week, the state police command, through its spokesman, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, said an autopsy report, according to the Commander of E-Crack, the squad that arrested the victim and four others in detention, Superintendent of Police, SP Benson Adetuyi, showed that the victim died of excess sugar in his blood.
As at the time of filing this report, yesterday, the other apprentice mechanics, Victor Ogbonna, Osaze Friday, Ifeanyi Osuji, and Ifeanyi Onyekwere, who were detained along with Chima, have been charged to court on ‘trumped up’ charges of armed robbery and cultism.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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