Ekwulobia — Igbokaenyi, one of the seven Igala speaking communities in Anambra State that had been abandoned over the years by both the local and state governments. The seven Igala communities known as Olumbanasaa and located at Anambra West Local Government area of Anambra State include Ode, Igbedor, Odekpe, Alla, Onugwa, Odomagwu and Igbokaenyi.

“Slaughtering of human beings was very common and it was done with so much brutality. It was as if chickens had more prestige and importance. “Any time we had the opportunity to pray, we always called on God to have mercy on us and deliver us. Sometimes we fasted. One day, we got news that the military was coming – thanks to a small radio we got at Gwoza.

Last weekend, when most young professionals resident in Lagos were resting from the usual hustling and bustling of the city, some benevolent others placed premium on having a sacrificial weekend. These were members of the Rotary Club of Victoria Island, and their choice venue was the Okobaba Destitute Home at Ebute-Metta in Lagos— a community of lepers, visually-impaired and physically-challenged persons.

Abuja – Moves to eradicate poverty by 2030 with the Post 2015 Development Goals (DG), set to be unveiled at the United Nations in September this year, will be realize if issues of girls and women is prioritize, the ONE Campaign group has said. Speaking at the launch of ‘Poverty is Sexist Campaign’ in Abuja, the Executive Director of ONE Africa, Dr.Sipho Moyo stressed that efforts should be directed where the need is greatest, in both the poorest countries, to boost the prospects of girls and women, who are disproportionately affected.

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese, His Grace, Dr. Valerian Okeke has called on the Judiciary, to give priority to cases concerning the awaiting trials inmates, ATMs, in Onitsha prisons by giving the cases accelerated hearings as justice delayed is justice denied. Okeke said that it was unacceptable for the ATMs to remain in the custody much longer than their prison terms if they were eventually convicted for the offences for which they were remanded in custody.

I remember we saw him at Christmas and he was happy. He had become a man and I was so proud of him. He was just in his elements with music, learning beats, sharing with me all the new songs he created and all the new people he had met. He barely had the chance to begin his life before it was snatched from him. That’s my greater regret.

Aba—An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Sunday Chigozie who had been in hospital following injuries he sustained after being attacked by some hoodlums believed to be political thugs, has been discharged. Narrating his ordeal to South East Voice, Chigozie said he was attacked during the Saturday, April 11, 2015, governorship/ state assembly elections, while travelling to Umuahia to see his boss, who had asked him to bring some items for her at the INEC state headquarters.

AWKA—PENSIONERS in Anambra State have been groaning under unpaid pension arrears owed them for years by the Federal Government, with many of them complaining that they have become tired of being tossed about by federal civil servants in charge of pensions in Abuja. Though they have been getting their state pension regularly, they alleged that those responsible for the federal pension frustrated them so much so that they had resigned to fate. In Anambra State, it had become a common feature for the pensioners in the state to be meeting regularly to discuss their plight.

ONITSHA — Former Military governor of old Anambra State, Col. Robert Akonobi (rtd), has pleaded with Igbo parents to reduce the bride price of their daughters so that ‘’our young boys can marry them.” ‘’To me, this topic (bride price) has been dealth with in the past by Ndigbo, who came out with a reduced bride price, to enable our young boys marry our young girls,” Akonobi said.

“You know that when a foundation of a house is faulty you can hardly rectify such faulty foundation. What you do is to pull down the entire building, but if the foundation is solid and there is an error subsequently you can always rectify that error. “Therefore, if the foundation was not properly laid, probably it would have been very difficult for that person to rise up to secondary school or university level, but where the foundation is properly laid you will appreciate that the sky would be the limit of that child.

ENUGU—A non-profit making organisation, Prof. Stan Chinedu Anih, PROFSCA,Foundation, has held a one-week memorial activities to mark the first anniversary of its benefactor, Rev. Fr. Stan Anih, who was renowned for his ecumenical activities in communities in Enugu State and beyond. Anih was until his death on April last year, founder, Ecumenical Secondary School, Thinkers Corner, in Enugu as well as the African Thinkers Community of Inquiry College of Education, ATCOICOE, Enugu and the Coal City University, among others.

SUNDAY June 9, 2013, is a day that traders at the Speedwell Plaza, Trinity Spare parts market in Olodi Apapa, now remember with pain and regret. It was a day their shops at the plaza were razed by fire that left them suffering huge losses and being heart-broken. Two years after, they are yet to recover from that disaster as they are still lamenting their losses. This is after several Save- Our-Soul, SOS, letters and appeals to the Lagos State Government have failed to yield any comforting response.

Has she been pregnant before? She said no. Did she use protection? She also said no that the guy told her he was using something that would not make her pregnant (oh my God!) I told her I was sure that she had a medical condition and would need to seek serious medical attention as it was not normal for a female of her age not to menstruate.

Ekwulobia—Anambra State Government has flagged off the operation to evacuate heaps of solid waste deposited at Okpoko, a suburb of commercial city of Onitsha. The mountainous heaps of waste had been in existence for over 30 years and had for long posed environmental health hazard to the inhabitants of the community.

CALABAR—RESIDENTS of Calabar metropolis and environs in Cross River State, reputed to have the finest potable water in Nigeria, have been hit by an excruciating water drought, following the breakdown of the operational system of the Cross River State Water Board, CRSWB, despite a subsisting public-private partnership, PPP, agreement with Ortech Nigeria Limited.