Photo caption: Paul Adefarasin
The Lagos State Police Command on Tuesday clarified that the object resembling a firearm, seen in a viral video with Pastor Paul Adefarasin, is not a lethal weapon but a stun gun, classified as prohibited anti-riot equipment.
The clarification was made via a statement posted on the command’s official X handle (formerly Twitter).
The statement followed growing public concern over footage showing the House on the Rock founder wielding a gun-like object while driving an unregistered vehicle.
According to the police, Adefarasin voluntarily turned himself in and has been cooperative with the ongoing investigation. He was interrogated and gave a cautionary statement to investigators.
The command confirmed that the object seen in the video was recovered and verified to be a stun gun, not a firearm.
Adefarasin has since been granted administrative bail, and the authorities assured the public that the outcome of the investigation will be made public upon conclusion.
The statement said, “Pastor Paul Adefarasin, who turned himself in today at the Lagos State Police Command over a viral video where he was seen holding a gun-like object against another road user, was interrogated and he volunteered cautionary statement to the police investigators.
“What was recovered from him, the gun-like object seen in the viral video, is not a lethal weapon or firearm but a stun gun which is a prohibited anti-riot equipment.
“The pastor has been granted bail while investigations continue into the case.”
Akpabio hails Tinubu for signing bills establishing new institutions in South-East
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday, commended President Bola Tinubu for signing into law the bills for the establishment of three important tertiary institutions in the South-east geopolitical zone.
The new institutions are the Federal University, Okigwe in Imo State, Federal College of Education and Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, both resident in Bende, Abia State.
In a statement through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Eseme Eyiboh, Akpabio praised stakeholders in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for their steadfastness and support for the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration.
The Senate President also applauded the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu who sponsored two of the Bills, Deputy Whip, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Osita Ngwu for effective representation and their commitment to the wellbeing of their people.
He also hailed the main sponsor of one of the bills, Senator Patrick Ndubueze for his exceptional leadership.
The three institutions aim to provide quality education, research opportunities, and cater to the educational needs of the South East region and healthcare delivery to advance knowledge and improve health outcome in the region.
Akpabio also believed strongly that the establishment of the institutions would mark a significant milestone in promoting education and development in the South-East region.
“I applaud President Tinubu for his inclusive leadership and demonstrated commitment to the development of the South-East region and efforts to heal the deep-seated wounds of the past. The establishment of these institutions will go a long way to remove the nagging feelings of distrust and socio-economic marginalization among the people of the South-East.
“I commend the President for his open-heartedness and unrestrained affection for the region. The significant support of leaders and lawmakers in ensuring the passage of these very important bills establishing these institutions is noteworthy and commendable.
“I call on the great Ndigbo people to continue to key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration and position for strategic and progressive alliance with President Bola Tinubu,” he said.
Akpabio assured that the continued support of the South-East for the Tinubu administration will attract more dividends of democracy to the region.
Senate screens Tinubu’s 17 nominees for key Rivers agencies
The Senate in session. Photo Credit: Senate
The 17 candidates nominated by President Bola Tinubu to oversee the affairs of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Rivers State Civil Service Commission and Rivers State Local Government Service Commission have officially declared their assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The assets declaration came on the heel of security clearance by the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police.
The Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this during the screening exercise by the Senate ad hoc committee to oversee the activities of the Rivers Sole Administrator, Vice Adm Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd).
The development comes barely one week after President Tinubu transmitted the names of nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
The five nominees for the Rivers State Civil Service Commission are Dr Barikor Baribuma (Chairman), Lot Egopija, Ms Maeve Ere-Bestman, Mrs Joy Obiaju and Mrs Charity Lloyd Harry.
Rivers State Electoral Commission has seven nominees – Dr Michael Ekpai Odey (Chairman), Mr Lezaasi Torbira, Prof Arthur Nwafor, Prof Godfrey Mbudiogha, Prof Joyce Akaniwor, Dr (Mrs) Olive A. Bruce and Prof Chidi Halliday.
The category of Rivers State Local Government Service Commission also has seven appointees namely Israel N. Amadi (Chairman), Linus Nwandem, Lady Christabel George-Didia, Dr Tonye Willie Pepple, Richard Ewoh, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ofik (retd) and Sammy Apiafi.
The 17 nominees were all presented before the Senate committee by the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado, who divided them into three categories.
The nominees for the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board are expected to take place on Wednesday at the Senate.
Bamidele who doubles as the chairman of the 18-member committee, however, reaffirmed the Senate’s commitment to upholding democratic processes in the oil-rich state.
He said, “Let me quickly inform distinguished colleagues and members of the public that the nominees who are seated before us have gone through security screening by the various security agencies, including the Department of State Security as well as the Nigerian Police.
“And none of them had had any issue with security clearance, which is germane to what we are doing here. We will just be speaking to your CV because I will have no issues with security clearance.
“Members of the public are also to be told that we have also insisted that they should go through the constitutional requirement of going to do their assets declaration by the Code of Conduct Bureau, which they have also complied with.”
The Ekiti lawmaker also disclosed that once they finished the screening exercise, the results and recommendations would be presented to the Senate leadership at the next plenary.
“Finally, it is also for me to report that as a committee we did not have any petition against any of the nominees who are here. So there is no inhibiting factor that would really prevent us from screening any of the nominees.
“The screening exercise itself is a process and all of these individual steps that I have mentioned are part of the process.
“Once we are done with this, we then make our recommendations to the Senate in plenary for the confirmation or otherwise based on our findings and recommendations,” he said.
