TODAY NEWS

Gov Okorocha denies legalising abortion in Imo

Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo has said that the bill currently in the House of Assembly is not for the legalisation of abortion.Okorocha said this when he reacted to reports that the state government had  legalised  abortion in Owerri on Friday.He explained that the bill would eliminate violence in private and public life, prohibit all forms of violence, including sexual, psychological, domestic and harmful traditional practicesThe governor said the bill was also expected to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishments of offenders.Okorocha added that the bill would equally enable every woman to enjoy reproductive rights as well as the right to medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest.He also said the bill made provision for right to medical abortion where the pregnancy endangers the life of or the physical, mental, psychological or emotional health of the mother.The Speaker of assembly, Mr Benjamin Uwajumogu, had also denied passing any law legalising abortion in the state.Uwajumogu decried the misunderstanding of the bill, explaining that it was for prevention of  violence and protection of women’s rights.He said the bill, which made provision for the termination of a foetus in cases of incest or rape, did not legalise abortion.The speaker said the house was set to make amendments to the bill to avoid further misunderstandings.

Assassins murder union leader’s 14-year-old son in

 Akure

A teenager, Oluwaseyi Adelegan, 14, was on Friday murdered by unknown assailants at his father’s house in Akure.The deceased is the son of Chief Solomon Adelegan, the National President, Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services.The Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) in Ondo State, Mr Wole Ogodo, confirmed the incident the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).“It is obvious the young boy was killed while trying to move out of his bedroom to the sitting room before he eventually gave up,’’ Ogodo said.Ogodo, who said that no arrest had been made, said that the case had been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).According to him, the information surrounding the death of the young boy is still sketchy, but I assure you that police will get to the root of the crime.NAN gathered that a group of suspected assassins invaded the home of the Adelegans located at Aduralere Quarters in Ijoka Area of Akure and macheted the boy to death.According to a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Oluwaseyi was found in a pool of his blood in his parents’ house.The source said that deceased was hale and hearty when his siblings left for holiday coaching in the morning and he was the only person left in the house.“The siblings were surprised to find the dead body of their brother in the sitting room when they returned from school.“The children raised alarm when they saw their brother, but the young boy was stone dead before their arrival,’’ the source added.Scores of sympathisers thronged the residence of Adelegan to condole with him on the death of his son.Efforts by NAN correspondent to speak with the bereaved parents were not successful as they were in shock over the mysteries surrounding the death of their son.

Delhi gang-rape-murder case: Suspect sentenced 3yrs in prison

An Indian court found a teenager guilty on Saturday of taking part in the fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi, a crime that sparked revulsion and angry protests in the country.

The juveniles’ court sentenced the teenager to three years in a correctional facility after handing down the first and long-delayed verdict over the brutal assault on the student on a moving bus last December.

“He has been held guilty for rape and murder and sentenced to three years subject to review,” Anil Sharma, the chief investigating officer in the case, told reporters outside the court in the capital.

The teenager, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was given the maximum penalty after he was tried as a juvenile, and the three years will include the time he has already spent in custody.

The victim’s mother emerged from the court in tears, saying “he got just three years … from December onwards he has been given three years”.

“He should get an adult sentence,” the emotional mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told reporters.

Her daughter, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, died of internal injuries after being raped and assaulted with an iron bar allegedly by six men on the night of December 16. Her male companion was also beaten up before both were thrown from the bus.

The attack brought simmering anger about endemic sex crime in India to the boil, and sparked weeks of sometimes violent street protests in the country.

The victim’s family had earlier called for the teenager to be given the death penalty, saying the juvenile justice system, which seeks to reform rather than punish, was too lenient.

The perceived leniency of the sentence is likely to spark further anger in India where the suspects, some of whom have been beaten up in jail, are public hate figures.

Outside the court, up to 20 protesters demanded a harsher punishment, screaming “Hang the juvenile too” and “We want justice.”

The separate trial of the four adult suspects in a fast-track court is hearing closing arguments and is expected to wrap up in the next few weeks, with the men facing a possible death sentence if convicted.

The fifth adult, the suspected ring leader, died in jail in an apparent suicide.

Outrage over the attack pushed parliament to pass a new law toughening sentences for rapists, while there was a round of public soul-searching over the rising tide of violence against women.

The Supreme Court this month cleared the way for the principal magistrate, Geetanjli Goel, to deliver the verdict on the juvenile’s case.

It was delayed after a petition was lodged in the Supreme Court by an opposition politician for a review of the juvenile law, arguing suspects aged over 16 accused of serious offences should be tried in adult courts.

The juvenile, one of six children, was employed to clean the bus allegedly used for the attack and often slept rough or inside the vehicle, reports say.

He reportedly left his impoverished home in a village in northern Uttar Pradesh state at the age of 11 to live in Delhi, where he worked in a string of menial jobs until landing the job of cleaning the bus.

Children’s rights groups have called for public restraint over the verdict, saying the teenager needed to be given a chance of rehabilitation, adding that India’s child protection services had already failed him.

PDP Convention: Ubas, Nwoye’s supporters in free-

for-all

ABUJA- CRISIS rocking the Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP , Saturday,  took another dimension as supporters of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Senator Andy Uba, his brother and a chieftain of the party, Chief Chris Uba and those of the party’s candidate, Tony Nwoye,engaged in a free-for-all.
The Eagle square, venue of the convention  was literarily turned into a boxing arena as Anambra delegates threw away decorum and engaged in fisticuffs before delegates from other states.
Vanguard gathered that the Ubas, the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, and other delegates were seated at the Anambra State pavilion when Tony Nwoye came in at 11.15am with his supporters, which added fillip to the already charged atmosphere. In a twinkle of an eye, a fracas ensued between supporters of the two governorship candidates that emerged from separate congresses in the state last week. The fight lasted for over thirty minutes as the Aviation Minister stormed out of the pavilion with her aides.