Photos: Mysterious Tree kills 31 People, Injures 16 Others In Imo.

Thirty one persons were killed in Imo State when a tree fell on them. The incident happened at the Ukwu Uko evening market at Umuejinwaoke Umudagu Village, Mbieri, Mbaitolu Local Government Area of Imo.

About 16 others sustained various injuries during the incident, which was caused by rainstorm on Thursday night.

A resident of the community, Nnaemeka Emenyonu, said that the tree fell on the affected persons around 8:00 p.m. He said the tree also destroyed the Village Hall.

“The big tree fell suddenly on 31 people, who died at the spot and injured 16 others. Those injured were taken to hospital.

“The victims include two sisters, who sell tomatoes. Honestly, this is a saddest event in the history of our community,” he said.

The traditional ruler of the community, Godwin Duru, lamented that such a tragic incident had never occurred in the community.

“I do not know what to say. God, what can we call this? My people were destroyed within a twinkle of an eye. What a pity,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Joy Elemoko, declined comment on the incident after several efforts to get the command’s reaction to the issue.

Continue to see more photos...

Source: NAN

Bayelsa State Reportedly Has The Worst Exam Malpractice Record in Nigeria.

The 2012 Exam Ethics Report, by the Exam Ethics Marshals International, has identified Bayelsa, Sokoto, Ekiti and Imo, as the first, second, third and fourth worst states with exam malpractice records.

Bayelsa State which was the worst state in the country had an Exam Malpractice Index (EMI) of 44.99%; Sokoto State with EMI of 27.9 %;  Ekiti State EMI of 26.69%, and Imo State  with EMI of 24%.

According to the report, there was a five percent rise in examination malpractices in the country from the Nigeria National Exam Ethics Index (EEI) being at 86 in 2011, to 82 in 2012.

According to the report, the EEI is calculated based on the composite number of candidates, principals, teachers, supervisors, invigilators and schools sanctioned for malpractices by public examination bodies for the period and geopolitical unit under consideration.

“It is the measure of the number of candidates and exam administrators that respected the rules and regulations of examinations out of every 100 that participated in such examinations. The inverse, Exam Malpractice Index (EMI), is the measure of the number of people sanctioned for malpractices, out of every 100 that participated in the examination,” the report said.

It named the North-east geopolitical zone as the most ethics-friendly zone in 2012 with an EEI of 7.05%. The North-central zone came second with and EEI of 84.09%, while South-west came third with EEI of 83.26. South-east, North-west and South-south emerged fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Yobe State emerged the 2012 National Exam Ethics Golden State with Exam Ethics Index of 89.57% while the FCT ranked second with 89.21% to emerge the 2012 National Exam Ethics Silver state.

Bauchi State ranked third with Exam Ethics Index of 88.51% to emerge 2012 National Exam Ethics Bronze state.

For the zonal Exam Ethics Golden States, it said FCT, Yobe, Kano, Abia, Oyo and Edo States ranked number one in Exam Ethics Index in their various zones to emerge the leader in their respective geopolitical zones.

The group regretted the fact that 18 out of every 100 people that participated in examinations in Nigeria last year were indicted for malpractices, which it said were a cause for serious concern, despite slight improvement registered between 2011 and 2012.

The statistics also showed that Bayelsa State has the highest number of  de-recognised schools(13), followed by Delta (12),  Ondo (eight), Kaduna (seven), Cross River (seven), Imo (seven), Plateau (six), Rivers (six) Kogi (five) Lagos (five) Nasarawa (five), Sokoto (four) and Anambra (four). No school was de-recognised in Taraba, Ebonyi, Borno, Niger, Adamawa, FCT and Yobe.

It indicated that South-south has the highest number of de-registered schools (35.1 percent), followed by South-west (19.3 per cent), North-central (15.7 percent), North-west (15 percent), South-east (13.2 percent), and North East (1.7 percent).

“Progress in the education sector is paralysed by the iron grip of examination malpractice, which has metamorphosed into virtually risk-free highly lucrative organised criminal activity controlled by syndicates, some of whose members are embedded in ministries, institutions and examination bodies as workers.

“Instead of being centres of excellence, some educational institutions have become places where youths are weaned on diets of fraud and dishonesty to breed ready recruits for corruption. A good number of principals, lecturers, teachers, supervisors, invigilators and examination administrators entrusted with responsibility to protect integrity of the examination process are the very people that aid, abet and collude to perpetrate malpractice for monetary and other inducements,” the report said.

Source: ThisDay

Gov Okorocha Returns To Imo, Gives N200k To The Driver That Hit Him.

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha returned to the state yesterday after about a week in a UK hospital where he went for treatment following the April 19th car accident he was involved in on Orlu-Owerri Road in Imo State.

The driver of the Mercedes Benz that rammed into the governor’s car, Mr Osita Nnewuihe, was given N200, 000 yesterday by Okorocha to repair his damaged car. Mr Nnewuihe had been arrested and detained by the police for about a week before he was released on the governor's orders.

EFCC Arrests Imo Finance Commissioner and AG Over N1b Road Contract.

Barely three weeks after the state House of Assembly removed the Imo Deputy Governor, Jude Agbaso, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested the state Finance Commissioner, Okafor Chike John and the Accountant General, Eche Ezenna George, over the N1 billion road contract, for which Agbaso was impeached. More details later.

Eze Madumere To Be Sworn In As Imo Deputy Governor On Saturday.

Following the removal of Jude Agbaso as Deputy Governor of Imo State, Mr Eze Madumere was nominated and immediately cleared by the state Assembly yesterday to take over as the new Deputy Governor of the state.

His nomination was contained in a letter by Governor Rochas Okorocha to the House where he nominated his chief of staff as a suitable replacement for the former Deputy Governor.

Having been cleared by the Imo State House of Assembly, Madumere is to be sworn in as the new Deputy Governor of the state on Saturday.

Imo State Deputy Governor Impeached For Collecting Bribe.

The Imo State House of Assembly has impeached the State’s Deputy Governor, Jude Agbaso.

Twenty five of the 26 lawmakers in the Assembly voted in favour of the impeachment.
The Assembly had served Mr. Agbaso a notice of impeachment over the allegation that he demanded and collected N458m bribe from J-PROS Limited, a construction firm handling the rehabilitation of Sam Mbakwe Road in Owerri, the state capital.

Jude denied the allegation and  prayed the Federal High Court in Owerri to suspend the impeachment process, saying he was not allowed fair hearing.

The court declined, even as an ad-hoc committee set up by the Assembly to investigate the embattled deputy governor had already indicted him.

After majority of the lawmakers  endorsed the deputy governor’s impeachment, the House asked the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Benjamin Njemanze, to constitute a seven-man panel to re-investigate the N458 million contract scam as provided in Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The House removed Mr. Agbaso based on the report of the panel.

There are suggestions in some quarters in Imo State that Governor Rochas Okorochas was behind the ordeals of his deputy, an allegation the governor has repeatedly denied.

Nollywood’s oldest bachelor, Chidi Mokeme gets married

Nollywood star actor Chidi Mokeme got married today to his lover Jane Oduah on Saturday in Owerri, Imo state. The traditional wedding was attended by friends and family. Okey Bakassi, Julius Agwu were among the stars present. The white wedding will take place April 28, 2012.

Rapper Naeto C to wed tomorrow

Rapper Naeto Cand fiancée Nicole Chukwueke are  rounding up plans to have their engagement on Easter Monday, April 9, 2012.

We are told that the engagement will hold in Owerri, Imo State.

Their white wedding is scheduled for Saturday July 21, 2012; even though the traditional engagement immediately qualifies them as husband and wife.

Naeto and Nicole who is the co-owner of organic beauty product ‘Ours by Juliada’ announced their engagement in October 2011 after an introduction between the couple’s families…