News
Tears as slain UI Don, Ajewole is buried in Ibadan
ASUU: IGP, CP must arrest his killers
Pastor Ajetunmobi: Professor Ajewole will avenge his death
It was weeping galore at the Trenchard Hall, the University of Ibadan where the remains of slained Professor Opeyemi Ajewole laid in state for last respect from the University of Ibadan Academic community, friends, family, and relations of the deceased.
The silence of the graveyard was interrupted intermittently by cries as people listened to friends, colleagues, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the University of Ibadan Chapter, Prof Ayo Akinwole, President of Senior Staff Club Dr. Bisi Lawuyi, and representative of Forestry Association of Nigeria delivered their speeches.
Recall that Ajewole, a professor of social and environmental forestry, was gunned down in his Olororo, Ojo, Ibadan residence by yet-to-be-identified assailants on Monday evening, 5 June 2023.
Though the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan (UI) branch on Monday berated security operatives over failure to apprehend the killers of the deceased four weeks after the incident, saying this speaks volumes about the state of insecurity in the nation.
In his short message at the lying-in-state, Prof Ayo Akinwole, UI ASUU chairman, said the Union will continue to fight for justice and ensure that the police arrest the killers of their comrade.
“The merciless people have cut short the life of our Iroko. We will stay faithful to that course that you stood for. ASUU will not rest until the perpetrators are brought to book”
Dr. Bisi Olawuyi, Senior Staff Club President, who recalled his last conversation with the slained Professor, stated that the late Iroko will forever live in the forest of “our hearts”.
“This iroko has not fallen. He forever lives in the forest of our hearts. The assailants may have done their worst, but he lives on. In the staff club, he lived on in our hearts. Why are we dejected? I shared a personal relationship with Iroko. In one of my last conversations with him, I told him, “Olori-ebi e maa se daadaa. And he replied, Bisi ma je ki n se daadaa nitori igi to ba to kii pe nigbo. If I shed tears, it’s not because I lost someone. In iroko, you have a trusted friend, a dependable ally. We will meet on the other side, Olori-ebi”
A representative of the Forestry Association of Nigeria, Dr. T Afolabi, said that the late Professor Ajewole contributed immensely to the association, igniting their conferences with his unique deliveries.
“It was never my plan to be here to see this. Iroko never merited this from me or the FAN family. He was unique. The children he left behind will carry on. he was a brother and I am going to miss him. I will miss his smiles. Our conferences were ignited by Iroko. It is pathetic and sorrowful. I called him the day he was killed. I have a message for those who killed him: Those who kill by the sword will die by the sword. ”
As the remains were moved out of the Trenchard hall for the church service preceding the final interment, friends, and families could not hold back tears seeing one of their own in a lifeless state.
In his sermon, Pastor Samson Ajetumobi of Men of Issachar Vision, Ibadan said Ajewole’s life was cut short in his prime time.
He emphasized that those who planned and killed the deceased would also die by gun because the blood of the deceased would get revenge.
“It is okay to die because it is price human beings have to pay but it is not okay to kill because it is punishable before God and men, God determines our days, when you read through the scripture, you will see that dying is okay but killing is bad.”
“God hates anyone who sheds the blood of the innocent. Nobody owns life. If a man is killed, he will account for it.”
Dignitaries at the event include the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. Kayode Adebowale, Registrar, Mr. J.O. Saliu, Pro. Chancellor of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Prof. Deji Omole, Director General of Forest Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Prof. Zachariah Buba Yaduma and the Provost, Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan, Prof. Funmi Aderonmu, among others.
Twelve inmates have escaped from the Federal Correctional Centre in Kotonkarfe, Kogi State, following an early morning jailbreak on Monday.
Confirming the incident, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, described it as “unfortunate” and assured the public that the government, in collaboration with security agencies, was taking measures to prevent a recurrence.
According to Fanwo, law enforcement officers have already re-arrested one of the escapees.
“The theory that the inmates escaped through the tower without causing any structural damage raises serious concerns. This calls for a thorough investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the escape, arrest the fleeing inmates, and identify possible saboteurs within the system,” he stated.
The commissioner further disclosed that Governor Usman Ododo has directed security agencies to ensure that such breaches do not happen again.
“We call on the public to report any suspicious individuals in their communities. Anyone found harbouring an escaped inmate will be held accountable,” Fanwo warned.
Reassuring residents, he added: “There is no cause for panic. We encourage citizens to go about their daily activities as normal, knowing that the security of lives and property remains our top priority.”
Authorities have yet to disclose further details about the escapees or ongoing efforts to apprehend them.
The United States has announced the termination of legal status for over 500,000 immigrants, ordering them to leave the country within weeks, as President Donald Trump pushes forward with what he calls the largest deportation campaign in American history.
The sweeping directive, issued on Friday, affects approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who arrived under a programme launched by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, in October 2022 and later expanded in January 2023.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the affected immigrants will lose their legal protections 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. This means they must leave the United States by 24 April, unless they secure another immigration status permitting them to stay.
Welcome.US, an organisation that supports asylum seekers, has urged those impacted to “immediately” seek legal counsel regarding their options.
A Reversal of Biden’s Immigration Policy
The Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) programme, introduced in January 2023, allowed up to 30,000 migrants per month from these nations to enter the United States for two years. The initiative was designed to offer a “safe and humane” alternative to the dangerous crossings at the US-Mexico border, which had seen a surge in arrivals.
However, the DHS reiterated on Friday that the programme was never meant to provide permanent residency.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the agency stated.
Mass Deportations Under Trump
Trump, who has made immigration control a cornerstone of his presidency, has vowed to crack down on migrants—particularly those from Latin America.
Last week, he invoked rare wartime legislation to deport more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, a country that has controversially offered to imprison both migrants and U.S. citizens at a discounted rate.
The latest order signals Trump’s intent to follow through on his hardline immigration policies, raising concerns among human rights advocates about the humanitarian impact of such mass deportations.
Tens of thousands of malnourished Nigerian children face a dire future as lifesaving food supplies are set to run dry, the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) warned on Friday, attributing the crisis to a funding shortfall exacerbated by U.S. foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The agency said that within the next two months, 80,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Nigeria could lose access to vital treatment, while a total of 1.3 million children under five in Nigeria and Ethiopia remain at risk of starvation this year.
“Without new funding, we will run out of our supply chain of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food by May, and that means that 70,000 children in Ethiopia that depend on this type of treatment cannot be served,” UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, Kitty Van der Heijden, said in a video press briefing from Abuja. “Interruption to continuous treatment is life-threatening.”
The situation in Nigeria is even more urgent, with UNICEF warning that food supplies for malnourished children could be exhausted as early as the end of this month. Van der Heijden recounted a harrowing experience at a hospital in Maiduguri, where she saw a child so severely malnourished that her skin was peeling off.
U.S. Aid Suspension Escalates Crisis
UNICEF’s funding crisis follows a significant drop in international donor contributions in recent years, compounded by the U.S. government’s decision to halt all foreign aid for 90 days upon Trump’s return to the White House in January.
According to Reuters, the U.S., a major donor to UNICEF, implemented sweeping suspensions on USAID programmes worldwide, disrupting the delivery of essential food and medical aid. The impact has been catastrophic, with global humanitarian efforts thrown into disarray.
“This funding crisis will become a child survival crisis,” Van der Heijden warned, adding that the abrupt nature of the cuts left UNICEF unable to cushion the impact.
Health Services Crippled in Ethiopia
Beyond food shortages, UNICEF highlighted the devastating effects of the funding crunch on health services in Ethiopia. Programmes providing nutrition and malaria care for pregnant women and children have suffered, with 23 mobile health clinics shut down in Afar, leaving only seven operational.
As the crisis unfolds, humanitarian organisations continue to urge global donors to step in and prevent a full-blown catastrophe. Without urgent intervention, tens of thousands of children in Nigeria and Ethiopia may not survive the coming months.
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