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Face Mask: Police To Prosecute Randy Officer For Alleged Rape Of 35-Yr-Old Widow

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The Rivers State Police Command has vowed to prosecute the police officer who allegedly raped a 35-year-old widow for not wearing a face mask in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers state.
The spokesperson of the command, SP Nnamdi Omoni, stated this while speaking to journalists in his office in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday, saying that the officer would be charged to court if found culpable of the crime.
According to Omoni, “The matter is receiving adequate attention.
“The lady has just made her statement and efforts are on to unveil the identities of the officers alleged to have been involved in the act, for necessary action.
“We appeal for calm, to allow the law to take its full course.”
According to him, investigation in the matter is ongoing and receiving serious attention of the command.
It would be recalled that last Tuesday, a 35-year-old widow, who pleaded anonymity, was allegedly raped and assaulted by a police officer identified as Inspector Peter Ebah, serving at the Saakpenwaa Police Division in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State.
An SOS message from the woman to her contacts had alerted the public about her predicament.
It was gathered that some of the contacts had made frantic efforts to enlist the swift response of authorities of the command.
The widow, while narrating her ordeal to journalists at the command headquarters in Port Harcourt, said that the accused police officer forcefully abducted and raped her after she was arrested for not wearing a nose mask on her way to Port Harcourt from Bori.
She disclosed that the said inspector, who detained her in the police vehicle for several hours despite pleadings from her co-passengers, tricked her that they were taking her to the Tai Police Station.
She further explained the officer suddenly diverted to a guest house, adding that the first guest house did not attend to him but the second hotel did.
The mother of two said, “When I was returning from Bori to Port Harcourt, I met some police officers at a checkpoint. They arrested me for not wearing a nose mask. They kept me there with them.
“Thereafter, they carried me from one place to the other, claiming they wanted to take me to the police station but never took me to any police station.
“After some time, they took me to a guest house where one of them raped me till dawn.
“The incident happened in the company of three other officers in the vehicle, and l was arrested while coming back from Bori to Eleme at 5pm, yesterday (Tuesday) but was detained till 10 pm before I was tricked to the guest house”, she added.
Meanwhile, some human rights organizations have given two days ultimatum to the Rivers State Police Command to produce the police officer to face the wrath of the law.
Speaking in Port Harcourt in response to questions on the matter, former national spokesman, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Henry Ekine, expressed optimism that the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, would use this case to show his zero-tolerance to human rights abuses by his officers.
On his part, Chairman, Rivers State Civil Society Organizations, Enefaa Georgewill, said the incident should not be swept under the carpet like previous alleged offenses committed by police officers in the state.
Similarly, a human rights advocate, Prince Wiro, called on the police to immediately begin a thorough investigation into the incident, and described the action of the policeman as embarrassing and shocking.
He insisted that all the officers involved in the illegal operation must be brought to book.

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FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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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.

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FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

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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.

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KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus

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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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