The Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, has announced the suspension of its policy requiring students to present proof of fee payment during examinations for those who will be applying for student loans through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund.

The institution’s rector, Sylvester Omoruyi, made the announcement during a sensitisation programme organized by NELFUND at the polytechnic’s main campus in Usen on Tuesday.

“The issue of driving students during examination is now over. We will no longer be checking your slips — if you have paid your fees or not. It is just to check the (NELFUND) portal, and if you have registered, there will not be a need to be driven out,” he said.

Omoruyi praised President Bola Tinubu for initiating the scheme and commended the Edo State government for supporting the programme.

The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government through the National Management Agency to provide relief materials to the Ekeke and Amoya-Otuo communities in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, which were recently displaced by flooding.

The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the House Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, on Wednesday during plenary.

Drumming support for the motion, Prof Ihonvbere said, “The House noted with concern the unprecedented flooding disaster that affected Ekeke-Erah, and massive windstorm that affected Ake, Amoya-Otuo other communities in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, resulting in widespread destruction of homes, infrastructure including a bridge in Ekeke, farmlands, and livelihoods.

“The House notes that the affected communities have been plunged into total darkness as a result of the flood that pulled down electric poles and damaged solar streetlights

He commended the Edo State Government, the Leader of the Edo State House of Assembly and the Local Government in responding to the disaster, stressing, however, “that the magnitude of the disaster requires additional support from the Federal Government.”

The motion enjoyed overwhelming support from lawmakers present at Wednesday’s plenary and was subsequently adopted.

A tragic incident in Benin City on Wednesday evening led to the death of a two-year-old girl, who was crushed by a commercial driver following a clash with officers of the Edo State Public Safety Response (PSR) Team at Ring Road.

Eewitnesses reported that PSR operatives attempted to seize the steering wheel of the moving vehicle, causing the driver to lose control.

The bus then veered off the road, ramming into a roadside POS kiosk, where the toddler and her mother were standing. The child was killed instantly.

An enraged crowd at the scene attacked the PSR officers before taking them, along with the child’s lifeless body, to a nearby police station.

Human rights activist Kola Edokpayi, who witnessed the incident, condemned the officers’ actions and urged the government to train its personnel on modern law enforcement techniques.

“What happened this evening is heartbreaking. We know how difficult it is for a mother to carry a baby for nine months and give birth, only for carelessness to take the child’s life,” Edokpayi lamented.

He criticized the officers’ methods, saying, “Instead of handling the situation professionally, they resorted to outdated tactics.

Nine days after he was kidnapped, the Catholic Priest of St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Ivukwa, in the Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, Rev. Fr. Peter Ekweli, has been released by his abductors.

But the fate of the seminarian who was abducted with him, Peter Andrew, remained unknown.

A viral video on Thursday showed a kidnap victim, surrounded by uniformed men believed to be vigilantes, claiming that he was kidnapped and put in the same location with the priest and seminarian.

The victim said they were all forced to close their eyes, and in the process, they heard a gunshot.

 Exactly 37 days after he was suspended, the Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, recalled the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Samson Osagie.

A letter to Osagie by the Secretary to State Government, Umar Ikhilor, marked SGA. 15/NOL.XV111/215 and dated March 12, 2025, released around 8:15pm, read that he was recalled after he was exonerated of financial wrongdoing.

The statement read in part, “Having considered the report of the Investigative Panel set up by Government to investigate allegations of financial infractions reported against you, which has exonerated you from the said allegations, I write to convey the directive of the Governor of Edo State, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo that you resume duties as the State Hon.Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice with effect from 12th March, 2025.”

Edo State Deputy Governor, Dennis Idahosa, on Friday has urged the citizens of the state to take advantage of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to pursue higher education irrespective of their background.

He described the policy as noble and said President Bola Tinubu has demonstrated not only his passion to see the youths succeeds, but that parents financial status should determine the dream of the students.

In a statement on Friday by the Chief Press Secretary to the deputy governor, Friday Aghedo, Idahosa made the remarks when he played host to the Managing Director and other management staff of the NELFUND in Benin on Thursday.

Idahosa said Edo State government would collaborate with relevant agencies to drive the process in mobilizing and sensitizing all students who are bonafide indigenes of the state and qualified for the loan to embrace the concept to realize their dreams of pursuing their educational ambition to the highest levels.