Strek Magazine

10/09/2025

NOTICE: Venue Change for Hilda Baci’s Jollof Rice Festival

Celebrity chef Hilda Baci has announced a new venue for Friday’s much-anticipated Jollof Rice Festival with Gino.

The adjustment became necessary after an overwhelming response from the public. While the original venue was designed to host about 3,000 people, more than 20,000 registrations were received, prompting the move to ensure safety and adequate space for all attendees.

The festival will now take place at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, on Friday, September 12, 2025.

Hilda reassures participants that entry remains free and all meals will be served at no cost. She is also set to attempt a Guinness World Record by cooking 250 bags of rice in a massive 22,619-liter pot—aiming to create the largest pot of Nigerian Jollof rice ever recorded.

10/09/2025

10/09/2025

BREAKING: Chaos at Onitsha Market as pregnant trader, three others met their untimely death by OCHA BRIGADE

By Chuks Collins

In the pre-dawn hours of today, the usually bustling Onitsha Main Market was the stage for a tragic showdown. As traders arranged their goods for the day, members of the Ocha Brigade, an environmental enforcement outfit under Anambra State stormed in, aggressively ordering traders to clear their stall spaces. What should have been a routine operation quickly spiraled into carnage as operatives reportedly opened fire leading to four individuals, including a pregnant woman dead.

The pandemonium that followed drew swift attention of the Anambra State Police, led by CP Ikioye Orutugu and Deputy Commissioner of Operations compelling them to launch tactical intervention. They rushed to the scene, dispersed panicked crowds, and restored order.

Meanwhile, seven traders suffering from gunshot wounds were promptly taken to hospital. Tragically, a 22-year-old trader, Chinwe Igwe, was declared dead on arrival.

The injured persons were identified as Mr. Ebuka Orakwe, Orum Oluebube, Anthony Kosisochukwu, Ifeoma Ezema, Chinwe Igwe, and two others yet to be identified.

However, provoked by widespread outrage, police called in Ocha Brigade management to help identify and prosecute the shooters. Patrols were intensified across the state to prevent further unrest.

Anger swiftly engulfed Anambra citizens condemning the Ocha Brigade and other security outfits—SASA, ASTA, AGUNECHEMBA etc for being “government-backed terror squads,” accusing them of extortion, intimidation, and reinforcing fear.

Many pointed to their lavish deployment during the August 16, 2025 by‑elections as proof of political motivation.

In a chilling reminder of earlier abuses, Udo Ga‑achi operatives had previously seized 18 journalists and threatened their lives, reportedly under the deputy governor’s, Onyeka Ibezim's stiff instructions.

An eyewitness trader, Chinwendu (surname withheld) described the horror.

His words: “They pulled at our wares, then started shooting into the air, panic erupted, and four innocent souls were struck down, including a pregnant woman.”

Her voice carried both anguish and fury at how armed agents terrorized law‑abiding traders.

The tragedy rippled beyond the market. Opposition parties accused Governor Soludo of empowering criminal gangs masked as enforcement outfits to suppress and humiliate them.

On his part, filmmaker and administrator Adim Williams was scornful: “Soludo’s so‑called security outfits are maiming, dehumanizing, and stripping visitors naked. They have turned Onitsha’s Main Market into a killing field. His lack of governance experience is now our nightmare.”

He urged voters to consider Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu (Ikukuoma) and deputy Iyom Uche Ekwunife as alternatives.

Earlier on, the Ocha Brigade and similar outfits were initially introduced to enforce discipline and cleanliness. Yet, repeated violent escalations from shop demolitions and extortion to fatal shootings have eroded public trust.

Currently, these squads have become symbols of unchecked power, accused of carrying out state-sanctioned violence against ordinary citizens and dissenting voices.

Today’s events in Onitsha crack open a painful truth: the very outfits meant to enforce order have become harbingers of fear and bloodshed. Citizens are now calling for accountability, restraint, and a return to rule-of-law. The ultimate question looms: will governance in Anambra be defined by intimidation or by protection?

09/09/2025

Gov Hope Uzodimma CON through his commissioner for primary and secondary school has gone further to abolish wrong trajectory in our education system:

Read this carefully if you are a parent or gurdian whose child(ren) or ward(s) is or are schooling in Imo State

*Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Imo State*

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.*

As all schools are resuming on Monday, September 8, 2025, and many students will be admitted into JSS 1 and SSS 1 for the 2025/2026 academic year, the issue where parents are asked, as a prerequisite for admitting their sons and daughters into JSS 1 and SSS 1, to bring shovels, hoes, cutlasses, rakes, brooms, moping sticks and buckets, hypos, detergents, bottles of dettol, soap of all kinds, toilet paper, A4 paper and to a great extent, they’re also asked to pay some admission levies, and examination fees, in both private and public schools (except those living in boarding schools) is now of serious concern to the Ministry and the Hon. Commissioner. Consequently, therefore, the Hon. Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education, Prof. B. T. O Ikegwuoha has requested that this practice be stopped forthwith. All Principals of Junior and Senior Secondary Schools are by this notice, asked to stop this illegal and unapproved practices. To this effect, a dedicated phone number: *0707 659 3298* is hereby introduced to parents, guardians, pupils, students and all stakeholders in Imo State, to report any complaints regarding Princicipals and Primary School HMs flouting or disobeying Government approved policies, including but not limited to the sale and use of textbooks every year by schools (private or public).

Please note that all textbooks already purchased by pupils and students are to be in use for 4 years, which ends in August 2026 when new list of approved textbooks will be introduced and *they will be in circulation for 4 years, ending in August 2030.*

Additionally, the Ministry has abolished the printing of textbooks with workbooks embedded inside them by authors and publishers, thus prohibiting the re-use of textbooks by younger siblings of graduating relatives, brothers and sisters. This practice will no longer be tolerated. Henceforth workbooks are to be printed and distributed separately. All authors and publishers for Imo State School System have already been notified.

As you’re all aware, many secondary schools (private and public) have gone as far as asking parents, guardians, students, etc., to bring during admission the following items and materials: A4 paper even after paying for exam fees, some go as far as disobeying regulations and education policies. The above information is aimed at curbing extortion from private school owners and public schools’ HMs and Principals.

*Let the Nigerian and Imo parents, guardians and stakeholders breathe.*

Remember that if you see something going wrong at any of the Primary and Secondary Schools in Imo State, you must say something -text your message, once again to: 0707 659 3298 (*no phone calls*)

Signed:
Prof. B. T. O Ikegwuoha,
Hon. Commissioner.

09/09/2025

NUPENG Suspends Strike After Agreement With Dangote Refinery

By Kennedy okafor ( Strek Magazine )

The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has suspended its two-day strike after reaching an agreement with the Dangote Group on Tuesday.

NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, confirmed the development in a telephone conversation, stating that the Dangote refinery management, led by Sayyu Dantata, agreed to unionise its tanker drivers. The meeting was convened by the Department of State Services (DSS).

“We have suspended the strike. The Dangote refinery has agreed to unionise its drivers. We signed an agreement,” Akporeha said.

The strike, which began on Monday, saw petroleum tanker drivers withdraw from loading operations following a dispute over the unionisation of those employed to operate the refinery’s 4,000 trucks. Despite appeals from the Federal Government to shelve the action, NUPENG members shut down fuel depots across the country, including the Aradel refinery in Port Harcourt and the Kwale Hydrocarbon facility in Delta State.

By Monday morning, filling stations in parts of the country were closed, while tanker drivers in Lagos, Warri, and other cities parked their trucks in compliance with the directive. NUPENG officials also moved around depots to enforce adherence.

The union had announced its intention to embark on the strike last Friday, alleging that the Dangote refinery planned to prevent drivers from joining the union. Although the Federal Government intervened over the weekend, Akporeha maintained that the action would proceed until Tuesday’s resolution.

With the new agreement, normal operations at petroleum depots are expected to resume across the country.