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Aluu 4: Suspects’ Trial Suffers Setback
The trial of the eleven suspects including the traditional ruler of Aluu community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, Alhaji Hassan Welewa who allegedly killed four students of University of Port Harcourt, Choba, on October 5, 2012, suffered a major setback yesterday.
The trial judge, Justice T.S.Orji said she was declining jurisdiction to abjudicate on the matter because of her family ties with the parties involved in the murder case.
Justice Orji’s decision to withdraw from the matter as well as return the case file to the state Chief Judge, Justice Iche Ndu for reassignment to another judge was heightened yesterday when she noticed that the third accused person, Ikwuchukwu Louis Amadi did not have a lawyer to defend him.
Although, the prosecution team from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) led by Barrister I Otorubio and other lawyers announced their appearance in the matter, the judge became more worried when she noticed that no counsel appeared for the third accused person.
The trial judge, who was not comfortable with the development, said she would rather return the case file to the Chief Judge than assume jurisdiction and proceed with the trial, adding that she would not take sides in the matter.
According to her, it was safer to send the matter back to the Chief Judge for re-assignment than favour any party in this matter, adding that her hands were tied in the case because she had close relationship with the accused persons and victims in the matter.
“I am related to the victims by birth and some of the accused persons by marriage. I know the accused persons, the victims I know. My hands are tied in this matter. Iam sitting between the devil and the deep blue sea”, she declared.
Justice Orji averred that her decision to return the case to the Chief Judge should not be misconstrued as lack of competence to handle the matter but because of the sensitive nature of the case.
She opined that the case had received widespread publicity and had attracted much attention, adding that the image of the judiciary had to be protected.
‘It is a matter that has attracted widespread publicity, the judiciary wants to maintain its image. It is not a matter of incompetence, but because of its sensitive nature”, she added.
She expressed confidence in the state judiciary to handle every case, stressing that the vital point in the Aluu case was not that justice should be done, but it must be seen to have been done, insisting that she would not satisfy anybody to circumvent justice.
It would be recalled that on October 5,2012 at Aluu, near Choba, four students of the University of Port Harcourt, Ugonna Obuzor, Lloyd Toku Mike, Tekenah Elkanah and Chadika Biringa were allegedly murdered by persons identified as residents and indigenes of Aluu community.
The suspects were arrested afterward and arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court presided over by Emmanuel Woke who remanded the accused persons in prison custody for lack of jurisdiction.
The case was subsequently transferred to the High Court based on the advice of the DPP.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the sitting, counsel to one of the accused persons, Mr Kennedy Amos said the Bar was pleased with the decision of the judge in the interest of justice and to avoid casting aspersions on the judiciary.
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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