EFCC’s raid on radio station, court’s threat to jail SSS DG, other top stories from South-east

Enugu govt imposes daily tax on corpses in mortuaries

Last week Sunday, we reported that the Enugu State Government imposed a N40 daily tax on corpses in mortuaries in Enugu State.

The Chairperson of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service, Emmanuel Nnamani, announced the development in a circular issued on 17 September.

The official said the tax was in line with the provisions of Section 34 of the Birth, Deaths and Burials Law Cap 15 Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004.

The tax on corpses has elicited several reactions in Enugu State, with many criticising the government for it.

But the government explained that the intent was to persuade families to bury their deceased loved ones quickly rather than abandoning their corpses in mortuaries for so long.

Trial of officers over extortion of motorists

Efforts to fight police extortion continued on Sunday, with the police authorities in Imo State ordering the arrest of operatives seen in a viral video clip extorting motorists in the state.

The police authorities said the operatives would be punished after investigation.

The police later announced that they had begun an “orderly room trial” of the operatives involved in the extortion.

Court threatens to jail director-general of SSS

Last Monday, Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team raised another alarm that the State Security Service (SSS) was blocking them from accessing Mr Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The Monday’s alarm came about two weeks after the legal team made a similar allegation against the SSS on 27 September.

Consequently, the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, threatened to imprison the Director-General of the SSS, Adeola Ajayi, over the secret police’s refusal to allow the lawyer to have access to the IPOB leader.

A member of Mr Kanu’s legal team, Aloy Ejimakor, explained that the court’s position was necessitated by the SSS director-general’s “repeated disobedience of the court-ordered visitation” of Mr Kanu.

EFCC’s raid on radio station, arrest of presenter during live programme

There was drama on Monday when operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided Urban FM, a popular radio station in Enugu State and arrested Favour Ekoh, a presenter, during a live programme.

Many people, including media groups, have condemned the raid of the station and the arrest of the presenter during a live programme.

But EFCC denied that Ms Ekoh was arrested during a live programme. It said the presenter was being investigated by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the EFCC in an alleged N700 million Ponzi scheme involving about 50 victims.

The anti-graft agency, which claimed the radio station officials obstructed the operatives during the operation, asked the Nigerian Union of Journalists to investigate the officials’ alleged conduct.

However, on Wednesday, Urban Radio Enugu’s management insisted that the EFCC interrupted its live programme on Monday to arrest its presenter.

The radio station stressed that it has “strong evidence” to show the anti-graft agency interrupted its live programme.

It also uploaded on X handle a recording of the live programme during the incident which showed their live programme was interrupted during the EFCC operation.

Police operatives ‘kidnapped’ me and my crew – Nigerian Actor

Last Tuesday, we reported that police operatives allegedly “abducted” and detained a Nigerian actor alongside two members of his movie in Imo State.

The actor is popularly known as Young C. Entertainment.

In a video clip circulating on social media, the actor said the incident happened on 11 October in Owerri, Imo State.

The actor said he travelled to Owerri from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday with two of his crew members for a movie shoot when the operatives accosted them on the road.

They were from the Anti-Narcotics and Drugs Unit in the State Criminal Investigation Department of the police in the state.

The actor said the operatives saw two bundles of “prop money” in the car and informed them that they had entered into a problem for having fake currencies.

He said they subsequently detained and unsuccessfully attempted to extort them, before they were freed a day later after his lawyer and others intervened.

Reacting, the police said they had ordered an investigation into the incident and vowed to punish the operatives involved.

Soludo opposes LG autonomy, signs law for deductions of LG funds

Despite stiff opposition from lawmakers from the Labour Party, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra, last Tuesday, signed the Anambra State Local Government Administration Bill into law.

Mr Soludo, a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, argued that granting “absolute” autonomy to local governments in Nigeria could lead to “humongous chaos.”

The law compels local governments in the state to remit a portion of their federal allocations into a consolidated account controlled by the state government.

Observers said the law was at variance with a recent Supreme Court ruling which affirmed the financial autonomy of the country’s local governments.

READ ALSO: Anambra govt speaks on deadly attack by gunmen

Deadly gas explosion in Ebonyi

We reported a sad incident, where at least 10 school girls sustained various degrees of burns from a gas explosion, on Thursday, in a catering school in Orokeonuoha, Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The explosion occurred inside the Good Shepherd Catering School building, where the girls, aged 12 to 19, were on their catering studies.

Two out of the 10 school girls were later confirmed dead.