Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the Governor of Ondo State has clarified the situation surrounding the arrest of Idris Ojo, who was one of those allegedly responsible for the attack on the Saint Francis Catholic Church in Owo on June 5.

Akeredolu on Wednesday claimed that there was an error in the statement made by General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff, when he was revealed on Tuesday that the attackers had been apprehended.

According to a statement issued by Richard Olatunde, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Idris Ojo, who was listed as the 14th wanted escapee from Kuje Prison, was apprehended at his brother’s home in Akure, the state’s capital.

Idris Ojo, a prominent member of the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) who escaped from Kuje Prison, was arrested at Aiyetoro in Ondo State, according to Irabor, who made the disclosure of the arrest on Tuesday.

Given that the tragic incident at Kuje Prison on July 6 came after the horrific event of the June 5 attack in Owo, Akeredolu acknowledged in the statement the uncertainty the development had caused the public.

“Idris Ojo, who is number 14 on the wanted list of the Kuje Prison Escapees was arrested in his brother’s house in Akure. His brother, Jimoh Rasheed Ibrahim, received and accommodated him after his escape from Kuje prison.

“He was thereafter moved and kept in the custody of the security operatives at the same time the attackers of Owo Catholic Church were arrested and brought into custody. Hence, the mix-up.”

The 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, has urged the state governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike not to return the state to the dark era of fear and intimidation in the forthcoming general elections.

He also asked other politicians in the state to eschew politics of bitterness and antagonism that would portray the state in a bad light.

Abe made these declarations when members of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Forum and Middle Belt Forum who are residents in the state paid him a solidarity visit in PortHarcourt, Rivers State capital.

But the former lawmaker’s reaction followed Wike’s state broadcast last weekend where he expressed fears and reservations about politicians allegedly meeting cultists in Hotels, bars, resorts and other entertainment centres to wreak havoc in the state.

In his words, “I was particularly disturbed when I saw the name of my party the Social Democratic Party- (SDP) mentioned in that broadcast.

“My own concern and prayer is that this election cannot return Rivers State to the old place of fear, to the old place of challenges and crisis that we used to have in previous elections.

“I want to appeal to His Excellency, that he is our Governor, whether we are members of SDP, APC, PDP or whatever political parties we belong to; we are all Rivers men and women and our objective is to choose a leader for our people that will carry us forward, not to bring cultists and fight one another.”

However, Abe suggested a security summit, where all political leaders would be invited to share their ideas on how to have peaceful elections before, during and after the 2023 elections in the state.

“If there are genuine concerns about security in the state, I will expect the governor as a friend and father of the State, to call all of us to sit down together and share ideas on how to go forward into this election in a peaceful, convivial atmosphere in which everybody will be free to participate.

“Whether the governor likes it or not, it is the responsibility of the governor to provide a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for all for all of us and I will plead that we come together and talk to one another”.

“I will appeal to my fellow politicians, the governor has expressed his security concerns, let us not begin to attack one another on the basis of that, instead let us sit down and look for solutions that will enable us cross these challenges without hitches.

“Our state will be peaceful. I believed that Rivers people know that without peace there can be no progress, without peace, there can be no prosperity, without peace, there is no future”.

But Leader of the group, Samuel Adamu said they came to pledge their support to Senator Abe and to assure him that they would galvanize the support of all their members for him in the 2023 general elections.

Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State says the Nigerian government cannot borrow N1.1 trillion to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who have been on strike for over five months.

The Chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum said this on Wednesday when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Police Trust Fund led by Dr. Ben Akabueze, in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital.

“There is no way Nigeria will go and borrow N1.1tn to meet ASUU’s demand, it’s quite unreasonable. Are their demands genuine? Yes. But we can start little by little,” the governor said.

“There must be a commitment on the side of both parties that look, ‘ASUU is not asking for this to take to their houses’ so to say. It’s asking for it for our children, to better the infrastructure, to better the lecturers and the students. Yes, but we can start with a fraction of that and then have a programme that will run on the platform of sincerity to address all the lots.”

He also called on varsities lecturers to show some level of understanding so the strike can end.

“So, it is important for ASUU to show some understanding and for those who are negotiating on the side of government to also show some understanding,” he added.

“Let’s meet ourselves halfway and then open the schools to save the fate of our children.”

The governor, who equally faulted the poor maintenance culture in the country, added that there is a need to work on it.

“But let me also say that most of the time, our people have a low appetite for maintenance of public works,” Umahi said.

“No matter how much you deploy to these universities unless the users and the industry regulators begin to treat public infrastructure as their own in the various universities, it will continue to go bad.