Prophetess, woman sentenced to life imprisonment for killing lover with poison

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has convicted and sentenced two women, Onyema Worlu, and Edina Lovelyn-Worleru, to life improvement for causing the death of a man, Israel Georgewill.

Lovelyn-Worleru, a prophetess in a church in Rumuche community, in the Emohua Local Government Area of the state, was said to have prepared a poisonous substance in the name of love portion for Worlu to put in the food of her boyfriend, Georgewill, in 2012.

The trial judge, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, in his judgment after over nine years of legal battle, found the two guilty of the crime and convicted them.

Justice Enebeli convicted them for manslaughter, instead of the murder charge in an earlier suit on the incident.

Prophetess, woman sentenced to life imprisonment for killing lover with poison

The judge held that the prosecution proved its case and that the statements of the first defendant, Worlu, at the police station were voluntarily given.

In the statement, the convict admitted that she administered the love potion as prepared by the prophetess in order to get financial assistance from Georgewill, adding that never knew it would result in his death.

Enebeli, after considering the facts presented by the parties, convicted and sentenced the two women to life imprisonment without any fine option.

The prosecutor, Chidi Ekah, said the judgment was not only justice for the deceased and his family, but also for the state and Nigeria at large.

He said, “I am happy that this matter has come to an end. It does not mean that I am happy that somebody’s life will be wasted in prison. We do not take delight in that, but the law must take its course. After all, somebody was killed and so the law says if you kill, this is the punishment for you.

“The court was even magnanimous enough to reduce it from murder to manslaughter. I am happy that justice has been served.”

But counsel for the first defendant, Vincent Chukwu, said his team would appeal the judgment.

“The fight is not over; it will certainly get to the Supreme Court,” Chukwu stated.

CAN Suspends Sunday Congo For Congratulating Pantami

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN has suspended its Gombe State Caretaker Chairman, Rev. Sunday Congo.

Congo was suspended after he wrote a congratulatory letter to the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, without the approval of the association’s National Executive Committee.

CAN State Secretary in Gombe, Apostle John Adedigba, in a letter on behalf of all the members of the caretaker committee congratulated Pantami on his recent reported “promotion to the rank of a Professor of Cyber Security” by the Governing Council of Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

They stated in the letter that they were “proud” of Pantami as a “son”.

However, CAN in a letter by its General Secretary, Joseph Daramola, dated September 15 2021, titled: ‘Letter of Suspension’, sent to CAN caretaker committee chairman in Gombe, stated that the congratulatory letter was issued without the consent of the mother body.

Part of the letter read, “Following the recent publications of your congratulatory message to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, CAN writes to inform you that your action has generated a lot of concerns amongst members of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

CAN Suspends Sunday Congo For Congratulating Pantami

“This action of yours in publishing on behalf of the association is tantamount to unilateral decision of you and overzealousness on your part, which was done without authorization and clearance.”

CAN described the letter without its executive’s permission as provocative, adding that he does not represent their position.

“It is not only provocative but undermines the CAN NEC executive. It does not in any way represent their position.

“In view of this, you are hereby directed to relinquish your position in Gombe CAN executive with immediate effect and hand over all CAN’s property to your next in line in your bloc.”

CAN further advised that the body be consulted in future and an approval obtained from the authority of CAN national level in order for everyone to speak with one voice.

Sheikh Gumi Promoting Banditry In Northern Nigeria

The Christian organisation demanded a thorough probe on the activities of Sheikh Gumi, expressing concerns that the security crises and banditry in the north would be prolonged as the Almajiri system continued unchecked.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has accused Kaduna State-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, of being responsible for the increasing activities of bandits in the northern part of the country.

The Christian organisation demanded a thorough probe on the activities of Sheikh Gumi, expressing concerns that the security crises and banditry in the north would be prolonged as the Almajiri system continued unchecked.

The Imo State CAN Chairman, Rev Dr Divine Eches, raised the concerns in an interview in Abuja ahead of its 45th anniversary and Founder’s Day scheduled for Friday in Owerri.

He advised that the Nigerian government should caution Sheikh Gumi whose utterances, he said, had emboldened the bandits, thereby promoting their inhumane acts in the North.

Sheikh Gumi Promoting Banditry In Northern Nigeria

He maintained that except drastic measures were taken to curb the Almajiri system, banditry would remain in northern Nigeria for a long time with devastating effects on the socio-economic lives of the people.

He said, “You can’t have the Almajiri system of life and government in the last 40 years in our nation, bringing up people without any trace to families, hometowns or nationalities. These children are scattered all over the streets, without you knowing that someday, they would leave the streets and go to the bush where they would begin to do the trade of kidnapping.

“Also, you can’t, in a sane nation, have the likes of Sheikh Gumi, a religious scholar, going about promoting banditry and you don’t think that this will continue. Yet, that is what we are seeing today. We are not seeing anything more than what we have planted.

“We allowed this thing (insecurity) to continue and it is now going to consume the nation if drastic measures are not put in place to take them (Almajiri) out of the streets. Give them a sense of belonging, put them in school, and help them realise their potential.

“These bandits were the Almajiri who used to be in front of our houses and begging. Howbeit, we are praying and that is why God is still sustaining our nation. I trust God will continue to sustain us in Jesus name.”