Lagos Assembly to sue actress over allegations of assault

Ufoma Ejenabor

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday said it will take a legal action against claims made by a Nollywood actress, Ufoma Ejenabor.

Addressing a media briefing on the issue, Segun Olusesi, the Chief of Staff of the Assembly, said the House will make the issue a deterrent case. The incident,which happened on October 29 on Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, had two different accounts from the two parties.

While Ufoma claimed one of the vehicles (the Pilot) in the lawmakers' convoy hit her Nissan Xterra car, Mr. Olusesi, who claimed to be driving directly behind the Pilot vehicle said Miss Ufoma drove into the convoy, hitting the left rear of ‘the pilot ‘ vehicle's bumper with her right front bumper.

"Even if it is true that we hit her car, which cannot be proven from the video recording, when there is an accident on the road, the first thing you do is not to call a lawyer. So, it was obvious she was onto something right from the beginning and that was why the Speaker directed that everything be recorded," he said.

A rowdy scene ensued and rather than continue on their journey to Lagos University Teaching Hospital to visit an ailing lawmaker, who died three days later, the lawmakers decided to drive to Zone 2 Police headquarters at Onikan. As seen from the footage provided, the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Lateef Junaid could not resolve the impasse as Mrs. Ejenabor refused all entreaties.

Claims and counter claims

Though, Mrs. Ejenabor did not make any statement to the police, she claimed, in a letter dated November 2 and written to the Speaker by her lawyer, Obinna Ukawoko, that she was beaten and that her vehicle was damaged. She also alleged that the following items stolen: white gold necklace (N850,000), Silver Gucci wristwatch (N475,000), Pink Ipod (N55,000), Blackberry Bold (N150,000) and Channel Sunglasses ($1,215). She also claimed that her wedding band, worth £3,000 was broken and her damaged vehicle will be repaired for N595,000.

"We have our client's firm directive to demand N35million as compensation," said the letter, advising the Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, to quickly pay in order to avert imminent bad publicity and legal action.

Mr. Olusesi rebuffed all the claims, saying that the video showed Mrs. Ejenabor as she drove her car away from the police station without any visible damage and she still had her wedding band and bag while she was at the station.

"The photograph of her damaged car, as she claimed in the media, can be best described as insurance fraud and an attempt to extort and blackmail this Honourable House and the Right Honourable Speaker in particular," he said.

"Nobody touched her. At a time when the security officers were not sure what to do with her, one of them wanted to deflate her tyres, but the Speaker kept shouting from inside his vehicle that nobody should touch her vehicle." "If she was beaten by policemen as she claimed, she won't be the one to drive her vehicle to Zone 2 headquarters. Her dress was intact throughout and she claimed she was stripped. She alleged that her fingernails were broken but she refused to show the police. And if she was truly in pains as a result of the beating, she will not be able to put up such display at the police station." "She provoked everybody present, including the members of the public. She wanted to be beaten by the way she behaved but we were lucky and matured enough, especially because we were in a state of mourning and that is why we didn't give it to her.

Atiku gets surprise welcome in Bayelsa

The excitement of the people of Bayelsa State over the visit of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the state has been attributed to his role in the 1999 governorship tussle.

Contrary to expected hostility when the posters and advance team of the former VP arrived Kaiama and Odi for the sensitisation of the people on the presidential ambition of the former VP, the team was enthusiastically received.

The leader of the team, Ade Oluwafemi said it took second thoughts for me to enter Kaiama and Odi cities of Bayelsa State including Yenagoa because these are the strongholds of President Goodluck Jonathan. But to my surprise, despite the inscription of Atiku on my car, the people were so excited, milling around the car and chanting Atiku’s name.

“The story in Bayelsa was the same with jubilating members of the PDP in high spirits to welcome the team. On sighting our vehicle, the jubilation almost got out of control as people were dancing and singing the praise of the former VP”.

According to Olufemi, the enthusiasm of the people was said to be because of the role Atiku played in brokering peace during the build-up to the 1999 governorship tussle in the state.

Atiku was said to have convinced Mr. Timi Alaibe to drop his ambition in favour of the Alamieyeseigha/Jonathan ticket that eventually won the governorship contest.

“His intervention and conviction of the contending parties brought peace to the state and this has not been forgotten by the people. That was the reason they were so receptive to us,” he added.

Ogboru lights up Abraka

The kinsmen of Chief Great Ogboru in Abraka are looking beyond the rerun election ordered by the Appeal Court after it sacked Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State.

ABRAKA, the country home of Chief Great Ogboru in Delta State, has been euphoric since Tuesday, November 9, when the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City ordered a re-run of the 2007 governorship election.

All through Tuesday night and up till last Wednesday morning, his supporters reportedly went on a drinking spree to celebrate the nullification of the election that saw sacked governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, ruling the state for three years.

Abraka women dancing round the town in celebration.

To them, the annulment of the election means that Ogboru is the next governor of the state and they were only waiting for time for it to manifest.

As at November 10 when Sunday Vanguard visited the community, Ogboru was yet to touch base after the court verdict but his residence was being repainted to give it a fresh look.

Other parts of the town was quiet but near the Delta State University in the town, joyous women of the Democratic Peoples’ Party, DPP, were seen celebrating Ogboru’s victory on the streets.

Their leaders, Mrs. Rose Onikpeteti, Mrs. Rose Fakpide and Mrs. Mary Efenure, said they were excited because the court had annulled the election of Uduaghan and ordered a fresh election, which they believe Ogboru would win.

“We did not vote in 2007 and we believe that we will vote this time around and that our vote will count for Ogboru”, Mrs. Onikpeteti said.

Ogboru’s political father, Prince Sylvester Kowho, based in Warri, told Sunday Vanguard, “Politics is a game of number, there was no election in the state in 2007, this time around, we are sure there is going to be election and Ogboru is the next governor of Delta State”.

At Ogboru’s residence , it was observed that extra-security measures had been taken to fortify the house different from the situation in 2007. The motor-cyclist, who acted as our guide to the residence, however, disclosed that the DPP gubernatorial candidate stayed more in the Beach, a location in Abraka, when he comes to town.

The carnival on that day was, however, at the residence of Ogboru’s elder brother, Chief Julius Ogboru, the Ekugbere of Abraka Kingdom. He is the ‘Field Marshal’ of the Ogboru Campaign Organization and from the Eku, Ika, Sapele, Uvwie, Ndokwa and other parts of the state, DPP chieftains had congregated in Abraka as early as 9 a.m.

The senior Ogboru said he had not slept since Tuesday when the verdict was announced by the court because it had been celebration galore. He described the court judgment as excellent, saying, “This is the first time we are seeing our judiciary strong and upright in matters concerning Delta State”.

He boasted that nobody would vote for Uduaghan in the fresh election, saying his brother was the next governor of the state. A leader of the party from Eku, Chief Wilson Ishegbe, concurred, saying Eku people were happy with the news of Ogboru’s victory in the court.

Okada riders thronged the Warri NUJ Press Centre in solidarity with Great Ogboru.

“When I heard the news, I asked for a bottle of St. Remmy Martins to celebrate with my people. It is God’s work, it is not man’s work. I came from Eku to visit our leader, Chief Julius Ogboru, to rejoice with him. People have been calling me from Warri and other parts of the state, they are happy”, he stated.

Chairman of the DPP in the Ukwuani Local Government Area, Chief Augustine Onah, said, “The people of Obiaruku have been in a jubilation mood since Tuesday night. PDP has not done anything to warrant a re-election. In fact, there was no election in 2007 and we all know that Ogboru is going to win the fresh election”.

Larry Dafiode, who contested the 2007 House of Representatives election for Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency on DPP’s platform, said he was happy with the nullification because there was no election in 2007 in the state, adding, “Some people just took the result sheets and wrote the result “. According to him, the news of Ogboru’s court victory brought spontaneous joy to the people of his constituency.

Another DPP chieftain, Chief Emma Okpu from Aragba-Orogun in the Ughelli North Local Government Area, said, “I am here in Abraka to celebrate the overwhelming victory of a great man, Chief Great Ogboru, who was subdued for many years and now liberated.

“There is no going up and down; he is the next governor of Delta State, from 2015 to the Presidency. He has been victimised in the past by liars and it is now that Nigeria has realized that he has been cheated. The PDP is dead and never to wake anymore in the state”. Okpu stated that the people of Ughelli North were still in celebration when he left for Abraka. DPP chairman in Ika South, Mr. I.G. Orubor, urged Deltans to vote Ogboru in the fresh election, saying he was denied victory in 2007 and commended Ogboru for his single-mindedness in fighting to reclaim his mandate through the judiciary.

Chairman of the DPP Elders’ Forum in Ethiope East, Chief Joseph Ukueku, said Ogboru’s victory in the fresh poll has been committed to God, stressing that the zoning arrangement that was introduced by some people attributed to be Urhobo in 2007 would not stop Ogboru in the re-run poll.

DPP youth leader in Sapele, Evangelist Nixon Ufuoma, agreed that the PDP only manipulated figures in the past to give itself victory. He said God had liberated Deltans with the Ogboru court victory and his thinking was that the judiciary had been monetised until last Tuesday’s verdict.

Sunday Vanguard learned that Clark invited Ogboru for a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday and the Ijaw national leader, who has been based in Abuja, since last year, may soon relocate to Delta State to lead the Ogboru campaign.