Ondo Election: ACPN, NCP Elect Their Candidates

The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) has elected Adetuwo Ogunjumelo as the party’s governorship candidate in the November 26 Ondo election.

Ogunjumelo who had 91 votes in the primary election held in Akure, the state capital, narrowly defeated his closer rival, Remi Okunrinboye who got 90 votes.

The third aspirant, Mrs Ayoade Jegede got 10 votes.

The election was monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

A total of 194 party delegates from across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state voted in the election.  Three votes were voided in the process.

The National Secretary of the party, Paul Isamade, while speaking to newsmen, expressed satisfaction on the conduct of the election, saying it was free and fair.

He appealed to the two aspirants to join hands with the candidate to achieve success.

The candidate, appealed to the people of the state to vote for him with a promise to create an enabling environment for development.

He said that he would improve on the internally generated revenue of the state.

In the same vein, the National Conscience Party (NCP) also elected Davies Oluwasuyi as its candidate for the governorship election.

Oluwasuyi emerged the party’s candidate after delegates to the party primary endorsed him unopposed, following the failure of the other aspirant to return his nomination form.

Foster mother cages girl in bush for five months

A 28-year-old woman identified as Mary Mathew has been arrested by the men of the Ondo State Police Command for child abuse.

The suspect allegedly caged her four-year-old foster daughter inside the bush for over five months at Imafon Village in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Mary said she ‘quarantined’ the young girl identified as Precious Michael when she suspected that the girl was possessed with witchcraft and also suspected that the four-year-old girl must have been inflicted by Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which reportedly killed her deceased mother last year .

The suspect was said to be a relative of the girl’s late mother and brought the little girl to Imafon in December 2015 after the death of her mother.

Parading the suspect at the headquarters of the command in Akure on Thursday the state Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Hilda Harrison, said the suspect was arrested following a tip off.

While Mary was paraded her husband was not but the police boss said both of them were in their custody.

The commissioner said, “Mary Mathew and her husband who alleged that the girl was possessed and thus decided to lock her outside the house. On receipt of the information, personnel attached to Juvenile Welfare Center of the police command visited the scene and met the girl in the cage as reported.

“She (the girl) was immediately rescued and taken to police clinic for medical attention while the suspects are under interrogation and will soon be charged to court “

Harrison further explained the victim would be taken to the state welfare home of the Ondo State Ministry of Woman Affairs and Social Welfare .

Also speaking, the police officer at the JWC of the command, Mrs. Olayemi Ojumu (ASP), who led the team that rescued the girl, told our correspondent that Precious had tested negative for HIV.

Mary, a farmer and indigene of Enugu State said she only confined the victim to a corner in her shop.

She said she confined the four-year-old there in the morning and released in the evening whenever she came back from the farm.