* In the spirit of Christmas and New Year festivities, the Rotary Club of Awka SmithTown, Rotary District 9142, has empowered six indigent citizens from Anambra State.
The six indigent citizens mostly widows, were at family of Rotary, an annual event held by the club at Awka, presented with cash gifts to assist in running their businesses and celebrating with kits and kins amidst the Christmas and New Year festivities.
The event was also aimed at celebrating with families, friends, relatives, business associates, rotary and non rotary members, while giving economic empowerment project to indigent women.
Speaking at the occasion, the President, Rotary Club of Awka SmithTown, Rotarian Ali Alex Arinze urged families, individuals and institutions to rekindle love in the period of festivities by embarking on charity works.
* Anambra State Commissioner for Special Duties, Hon. Beverly Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche says the celebration of Christmas points us to God’s historical demonstration and manifestation of his unfailing love for mankind.
Commissioner Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche who stated this in her Christmas Message reflected on the birth of Jesus Christ as God’s gift of Love being love himself and demonstrating his unfailing love for mankind thousands of years after man fell from God’s nature in the Garden of Eden.
She said, “The birth of Jesus Christ is beyond a celebration, it is the revelation of God’s Love; the manifestation of his covenant, the adoption of man into His sonship and entrance into God’s favour and grace”, explaining that man’s only way to reflect this is to become a source of love at all times.
Commissioner Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche pleaded with Christians, ndi Anambra, and Nigerians, in general to take today as a time of reflection on the personality of Jesus Christ, his love and sacrifice, his humility and sense of civic duty and emulate him and live according to his lifestyle in their daily lives.
* A forum of intelligentsia and moralists have identified value reorientation as tools to enhance productivity, address insecurity and other societal vices ravaging Anambra State.
The forum cum end of year party organised by Anambra State Civic and Social Reformation Office (ANCISRO), a social orientation faculty in governor Chukwuma Soludo’s office, was attended by philosophers, media practitioners, lawyers, scholars, among others.
They argued that formation and strict adherence to societal values would not only provide enabling environment for all to thrives but restore the dignity of man, as well as reposition Anambra State as a liveable and prosperous homeland, and destination for foreign and local investors.
The keynote speaker at the forum, Chief Bar. Akachukwu Maduakolam, in a lecture entitled Anambra values and how it affects Yuletide, had identified Anambra State as having a strong value which upholds integrity as a virtue, encourages industriousness, truth and honesty.
* The husband of one of the victims of the stampede that occurred at Okija, in Anambra State, identified as Uchenna Nwaudo, has lamented the loss of his wife in the incident, saying he had warned her not to attend the programme, but she did not need his advice.
No fewer than 22 persons died in a stampede that occurred at the gate of a charity event at the Obijackson Centre in Amanranta area of the community.
The victims, particularly middle-aged women, the elderly and children were stampeded upon as they struggled to gain entrance at the gate amid a very large crowd.
Nwaudo lamented the loss of his wife in the incident, saying, “I am from Umuohi village in Okija. On the fateful day, I had warned my wife not to go to the rice-sharing venue because of our little baby who was not feeling fine. I asked my wife not to attend the event to look after the boy.
* Governor Chukwuma Soludo has expressed his warmest congratulations to ndi Anambra and Nigerians at large on the happy occasion of 2024 Christmas celebration.
In his festive goodwill message signed by
Mr. Christian Aburime, Press Secretary to the Governor, Soludo stated that this special season reminds us of God’s boundless love and the enduring spirit of hope that the birth of Jesus Christ brings to humanity. Indeed, sharing love and embracing hope are the redeeming essence of Christmas.
The Governor thus urged ndi Anambra and all Nigerians to demonstrate selfless love to one another and also keep hope alive in the face of challenges this season. At the same time, he also wished the various families who lost their loved ones in the sad recent Okija stampede the strength to bear the loss.
* Big C Charity Foundation founded by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Big C Real Estate and Properties Limited, Chief Joachim Aforjama has organized a free medical mission for the people of Anaocha Local Government Area.
The Foundation also distributed hundreds of bags of rice and tubers of yams as part of measures to help beneficiaries celebrate Christmas and New Year in grand style.
Speaking during the exercise that took place in his country home, Chief Aforjama noted that what he has done was to ensure that Ndi Anaocha is healthy while celebrating this yuletide and to cushion the effects of the economic hardship on them.
The business magnate said that it was also a way he pays tithe to God and promised to keep replicating the gesture every year as God blesses him.
* Joint security operation led by the Nigeria Police Force and comprising the Military, Civil Defence, and Anambra Vigilante operatives successfully dismantled a criminal camp located in Nimo, Njikoka Local Government Area.
The operation resulted to the destruction of several makeshift structures within the camp, the recovery of 19 unexploded improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and inflicted significant injuries on fleeing suspects.
According to a press release by SP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State Command, this decisive action followed credible intelligence on the activities of the criminal gang in the area, coupled with information obtained during the interrogation of suspects arrested in ongoing police operations across the state.
* Estate developers under the auspices of Golden Land Estate Ventures Ltd has set out plans to provide opportunities that will enable about 1000 persons become Landlords in year 2025.
Speaking during their End of Year Business Summit at Shanahan Hall, Holy Trinity, Onitsha a Director, Comrade Damian Ogudike said that Golden Land Estate Ventures Ltd engage in buying and selling of lands at an affordable rate with enticing policies that make their own business organization different from other organizations.
The Keynote Speaker during the Golden Land Estate Ventures Ltd End of Year Business Summit, Peace Ukamaka who spoke on the theme ‘Real Estate Investors and Role of Realtors in the 21st Century ‘ reiterated the importance of building confidence and learning new skills in Real Estate marketing.
* Anambra State NSCDC Commandant, Comdt. Maku Olatunde on Wednesday 25th of December, 2024 visited some flashpoints to assess the security situation and the readiness of personnel to deal with undesirable elements who may want to disrupt the celebrations.
The visit is a follow up to the operational order for the Christmas and New Year festivities released by the command and the subsequent deployment of 2409 personnel of the Command to various strategic locations, the
Speaking on the essence of the on the spot assessment and confidence building patrol , Comdt. Maku said the mood of the celebrations deserves to be calm, peaceful and hitch free.
* The Anambra State Police Command has arrested one Chukwuma Obi, a 32-year-old male from Umuagu Village, Igboukwu, Aguata Local Government Area, in connection with an alleged case of attempted kidnapping and extortion.
The arrest was made on December 24, 2024, by operatives of the Anti-Cultism Squad, Enugu-Ukwu.
According to a press statement by SP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State Command, the suspect is accused of demanding a ransom of one million, two hundred thousand naira (#1,200,000) through threats of abduction.
The victim reported receiving a menacing message from an individual claiming to be a member of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), threatening abduction unless the demanded ransom was paid into a specified account.
