NEWS
BCS Excommunicates Four Members over Rebellious Acts, Doctrinal Violation
From Ene Asuquo, Calabar
The Brotherhood of the Cross and Star with international headquarters in Calabar has excommunicated four of its members for rebellious acts against the organization and for violating its doctrine.
They also cautioned members of the public against dealing with them as members of the fold.
In a statement by the spokesman of the organization, Patriarch Dr Amah Williams, they gave the names of those expelled to include, Sister Anne Ewa, Bassey Kinsley Asu, Bassey Effiong and Samson Harvey
The four were accused of engaging in rebellious activities, disobedience to hierarchy of the fold, non-adherence to the doctrines, ethics, norms and divine practices of the organization.
They were advised not to portray themselves as members of the fold, cautioning members, too, against recognizing or dealing with them as such.
The organisation further advised their administrators to internally publicize the banishment which takes immediate effect.
Part of the excommunication order states, “The decision to excommunicate the four was reached by the BCS Executive Council in conjunction with members of the Incorporated Trustees after a thorough consideration of all matters regarding the disobedience, rebellious and non-adherence to the doctrines, ethics, norms and practices of BCS as the Universal Spiritual School of Practical Christianity.
“The above named persons’ actions on social media and other misdemeanors fall short of the expectations of a member of BCS and run fowl of their ordination vows
“They have countless times rebuffed several calls and opportunities given to them to retrace their steps.
“This is intolerable within our sacred institution; hence the executive Council had on 30th August 2024 excommunicated the named persons. By this, they have ceased to be members of BCS.”
The first time the organization similarly excommunicated members for acts of rebellion was in 2001.
Reacting, two of those that were excommunicated, Bassey Effiong Orok and Kingsley Asu insisted that they remain members as efforts to reach out to Anne Ewa and Samson Harvey to comment on the matter proved abortive as their lines were not going through.
NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)