Igboayaka was arrested in Owerri on Feb. 8 by operatives of Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Ebonyi Police Command after winning reelection for a second term as the president of the Council.

He was subsequently brought to Abakaliki, where he was detained by the police.

Igboayaka was later arraigned on Feb. 12 at the Abakaliki magistrate court on a felony charge and was remanded at the Abakaliki Medium Custodial Centre.

The Magistrate, Mrs Sandra Ifeanyi-Oyibe, ruling on the bail application brought by the defence counsel, Mr Obinna Ekeke, said that the defendant was appearing before the court for the first time after he was remanded on Feb. 12.

But Ekeke, however, argued that the bail application was made consequent on the deteriorating health condition of the defendant and appealed to the magistrate to grant the request in the interest of justice.

“If not for the health condition of the defendant, we won’t stress ourselves; and it won’t serve us any good, the society, the interest of justice if this young man’s life is lost because of this case.

“This is my first time of appearing before this honourable court and this application for bail bears a mark of the Supreme Court, which has made a clear position on this.

” I strongly believe that this court has jurisdiction to allow bail even without application,” Ekeke said.

The magistrate noted that the matter was coming up for the first time for hearing after the suspect was remanded after his arraignment.

She said: “This is the first time this matter is coming up after the remand; you also know that you can make this application at the High Court , so if by the next adjournment and the law says 14 days, you can apply for bail especially if it’s not a capital offence.

“Therefore , the matter is hereby adjourned to March 12 for compliance,” Ifeanyi-Olive ruled.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the prosecution counsel was absent in court.

Igboayaka, 42, alongside others now at large, are facing trial for alleged conspiracy to commit felony and accusations of causing extreme fear to the people of Amegu Nkalagha community in Ishielu Local Government in Ebonyi (NAN)

Adan Mendoza, Santa Fe County Sheriff, in a statement said:”We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.

“This is an active investigation, however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Hackman was known for iconic roles in movies like : ‘The French Connection’, ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’.

He was a two time Academy Award winner and retired from acting in 2004.

The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, said this at the Public Presentation of the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Nigeria Integrated Resource Plan in Abuja on Thursday.

The ministry put the document in place with the support from UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the UK Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that under the current structure, customers in Band B, who enjoy 18 to 17 hours of electricity supply pay N63 per kilowatt-hour.

Those in Band A, with only two hours more of supply, are charged N209 per kilowatt-hour

Adelabu said that in 2024, the power sector adopted cost reflective tariff for a portion of electricity consumers about 15 per cent, it might look small but it is a way forward.

“It was pilot and a proof of concept which I believe it had worked the people that are enjoying 20 to 24 hours of electricity supply in a day are happy.

“ They are satisfied in spite of the fact that they are paying N209 per kilowatt-hour as they believe they are better off than when using generators.

“We believe that as we continue to work on revamping our distribution and transmission infrastructure, more and more people will be migrated to Band A,“ he said.

Adelabu also said that as a result of the migration of some customers to Band A, the power sector recorded a 70 per cent growth in its revenue from N1.05 trillion in 2024 to about N1.7 trillion.

The minister said: “We will look at the tariff again. I am not saying that we’re going to increase the tariff before I am misquoted.

” We are going to look at the tariff and see how we can improve on our modest achievement of 2024 not only to grow the sector revenue.

` But to also ensure that we are able to invest more in revamping the dilapidated infrastructure in the power sector so that they can carry the kind of reliable electricity we envisage for the power sector.

“We thought the migration of Band B and C customers will be faster that this but the Electricity distribution Companies (DisCos) have refused to invest in the power sector, ” he said.

According to him, a lot of investment was required to achieve accelerated migration of lower-band customers into Band A.

He said that the reqularisation of the tariff Band B and C customers to Band A would be done at a slow pace. (NAN)