Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has ordered the arrest of one Mr Itoro Monday Uko in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state for contempt of court.

Itoro Uko is said to have abandoned his wife and only child, a two-year-old girl, in the village to live with his girlfriend in Ikot Ekpene Town.

The presiding judge, Justice Ntong Ntong, gave the order after hearing Counsel for the applicant and mother of the child, Barrister Ekom Friday Inwang, following the absence of the accused and his Counsel.

The applicant, a private school teacher from Mkpat Enin Local Government Area told the court that apart from neglecting his responsibilities as a father in providing for the needs of his child, the respondent also refused to refund the N200,000 loan she collected for her husband to fix his car in March 2022.

She said they got married on January 18, 2020 and the marriage was blessed with the first child, after which she got pregnant for the second child when her husband started to beat her, resulting in her first miscarriage.

She also told the court that she got pregnant again for the third time and her husband continued to assault her, adding that she was rushed to a hospital where she spent three nights due to bleeding in May 2022, and her husband never showed up. She added that it was her siblings who financed her medical bills.

Upon recovery on July 4, 2022, the applicant said she went to her husband’s family home in Itak Ikot Udo, where they were living, to find out why her husband did not visit but to her surprise, the keys to their apartment were changed and she could not enter the house to pick her clothes or that of her child.

Mrs Itoro Uko said she became aware after the birth of her first child that her husband was keeping multiple sex partners and efforts to change him proved abortive.

She said she became pregnant again for the third time, and the act of battery persisted, which prompted her in-laws to advise her to stay with her parents in Mkpat Enin to avoid being killed by her husband.

Counsel to the applicant urged the court to order the arrest and detention of the respondent for being in contempt of the order of the court made on April 6, 2023.

Justice Ntong granted the order and commanded “Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police and the Divisional Police Officer, Ikot Ekpene Division, their officers and men in the name of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and the Inspector General of Police to cause the arrest and detention of Mr Itoro Monday Uko and produce him in court” and adjourned the case to Thursday, April 25, 2024, for hearing.

Fire destroyed wares and some other valuable properties in the main market serving Yola Town, one of two in the Adamawa State capital, Yola.

While the city’s biggest market, the Jimeta Modern Market, is located in the Jimeta axis of the capital city, the Yola Town Main Market is the second major market serving as the commercial hub of the Yola South Local Government Area and the environs.

Eyewitnesses said a fire at the Yola Town market started in the early hours of Monday, destroying shops and goods.

They said some of the traders who kept the proceeds of the sales of Sunday now regret not taking their money home.

They said although fire authorities responded quickly enough but the intensity of the inferno made containment tough.

The cause of the fire was yet to be determined by the time this report was filed Monday morning, but people around the market area ruled out any link to electricity as the entire place was in a blackout throughout the time.

No case of human casualty has been reported.

At least 19 passengers have been reported dead in a road accident that occurred at Kilometre 3, Sabo on Oyo-Ogbomoso Expressway in Oyo Town on Sunday.

The accident involved a Sokoto-bound white Toyota Hiace 18-seater bus with registration number NTT 522 ZY and a black Toyota saloon car.

It was gathered that the victims died on the spot while the only survivor is currently receiving treatment at a private health facility, Opabode Hospital, in Oyo.

Oyo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Joshua Adekanye confirmed the incident and blamed it on disregard for traffic law.

According to him, “The incident involved a Sokoto-bound commercial bus and Corolla saloon car. It happened at 7:45 pm at Kilometre 3, Sabo area along Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway.

“Out of the 20 passengers on board of the two affected vehicles, 19 died on the spot while the survivor is receiving medical attention at the neighborhood hospital.

“The corpses of the victims have been deposited at the General Hospital, Oyo. The drivers of the two vehicles were among the victims that died on the spot.”

The Sector Commander added that the deceased driver of the Toyota Hiace was on the wrong lane to Oyo and collided with the Toyota Corolla.

Adekanye, however, advised road users to always be conscious of traffic rules to avoid reoccurrence.