Arms
Ten killed in inter-communal violence amid protests in eastern Congo
Ten people have been killed and 34 injured in fighting between rival ethnic communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma, a spokesman for the provincial government said on Tuesday. The clashes broke out when protests against the U.N.’s MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, which some blame for failing to end to worsening insecurity and militia attacks, descended into violence between the two communities. Attacks by armed militias and inter-communal violence in Congo’s restive eastern region have killed over 300 people since the start of the year as government troops and U.N. peacekeepers struggle to bring stability in the mineral-rich region. The governor of North Kivu province, Carly Nzanzu Kasivita, banned all public protests from Monday and called for calm. “From now o...
NNPC to partner Borno government to establish gas power plant
The Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Mele Kyari has said that the corporation will partner with Borno State Government to establish a Gas Power Plant following the vandalization of the national grid by insurgents which put the state almost three months into total blackout. Kyari who led a powerful delegation on a courtesy call on Governor Babagana Umara Zulum on Friday said, the Federal Government will not fold its arms and neglect the state which is been ravaged by insurgents, especially cut off from the national grid, as power is a source of income to the teaming people of the state. “We are here with my colleagues, the Head of Gas and Power Business, Engineer Yusuf Usman, Representatives of Greensville Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is a...
Gunmen abduct APC caretaker committee chairman in Rivers
The Rivers Chapter of the APC has announced the abduction of Hiasine Wiye, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in Khana Local Government area of the State. He was kidnapped in his residence on on Sunday evening, according to the party in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by its Spokesman, Ogbonna Nwuke. He expressed dismay at the abduction of a grassroots member of the party. The party said the abduction of Wiye without any trace confirmed the claim that even ordinary citizens resident in Rivers State are not safe. “The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State was snatched on Sunday from his home by unknown persons. “We have been briefed that he was taken into captivity at a time when well meaning people were celebrating the resurrection ...
Zamfara governor: We rescued 2000 kidnapped victims through dialogue
The Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammad Matawalle, says his administration has secured the release of over 2000 kidnapped victims. He said this was achieved through dialogue and peace process initiated in the state. He said since he assumed office, over 62 bandits have accepted and embraced peace. The Governor, through his newly appointed Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Magaji Dosera, disclosed this at a news briefing in Kaduna on Friday. He said the repentant bandits are also helping in campaigning and convincing those who are yet to accept the dialogue and reconciliation process to do so. “They (repentant bandits) are also helping in the identification of the leaders of the recalcitrant bandits, including their camps and location for dialogue and reconciliation. Since the...
NSF: UNIBEN orders students to vacate halls of residence
Ahead of the 20th National Sports Festival (Edo 2020), the Senate of the University of Benin (UniBen) has ordered students to vacate its Halls of Residence from April 1. The university hall of residence have been earmarked for the use of contingents coming for the festival holding in Benin between April 2 and April 14. A statement issued on Wednesday in Benin by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, said the UniBen management had provided holding facilities for students who may need to keep their luggage. She said that the luggage must be tagged and dropped under strict security supervision while their mid-session break lasted. “Following the directive by the Senate of the University of Benin for students to vacate the Halls of Residence on April 1, the Man...
Abia by-election: APC candidate urges supporters to accept result
All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the just-concluded Aba North/South Federal Constituency by-election, Hon Mascot Uzor Kalu, has urged his supporters and APC members to accept the result and remain calm. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Chimaobi Ebisike, winner of the by-election held on Saturday. In a statement, Hon Kalu said the by-elect1ion was over and appealed to APC members to accept the outcome of the elections in good faith while appreciating them for making the party stronger in Abia. He said while the PDP wanted the election at all cost , “we chose life over bloodshed and therefore won lives and lost the polls. To us, that was a m victory.” Hon Kalu said the level of thuggery, violen...
Sheik Gumi: Shoot-on-sight order hindering rescue of abducted Kaduna students
Renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, has said the shoot-on-sight order of President Muhammdu Buhari is hindering the efforts to negotiate the release of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Kaduna. Earlier in the month, Buhari had asked security operatives to gun down those carrying arms illegally in the forests. Speaking with Daily Trust on Thursday, the cleric said some of the bandits he met in the forest during his peace meetings have assisted in identifying the leader of the gang responsible for the abduction of the students. Gumi said despite identifying the leader of the gang, he has been unable to reach out to him because of the shoot-on-sight order of the president. The cleric added that during his previous tours to the bandits’ dens, he m...
Bayelsa bans open grazing, vows to arrest armed herders
Bayelsa State Government has enacted a law prohibiting open grazing of livestock in the state. The law, Livestock Breeding, Rearing and Marketing Regulation Law 2021, was signed into law by Governor Douye Diri on Monday at the Executive Chamber of Government House, Yenagoa. Governor Diri said the essence of the law is to ensure harmonious living between cattle dealers and other inhabitants of the state and to forestall the violent clashes being experienced in other parts of the country. His words: “Bayelsa State welcomes all and sundry to eke out a living legitimately. The people of Bayelsa want to have a mutual and harmonious relationship with non-natives and natives. The essence of the law is to avert and forestall any clash between herdsmen, farmers, natives and non-natives as experienc...
Anambra Assembly expresses worry over spike in criminal activities
The Anambra House of Assembly has expressed worry over the increasing rate of crimes in the state and called for urgent measures to address the menace. Mr Noble Igwe, representing Ogbaru 1 Constituency, while speaking on a matter of urgent public importance, on Tuesday, lamented that the rate of crime had triggered fear among the residents. Igwe said there were recent reports of residents who had been victims of a wide range of violent crimes, including armed robbery, assault, burglary, carjacking, kidnapping and extortion. “Aware that security of lives and property is the primary function of the state government as enshrined in the constitution, there is the need to intensify efforts at taming the resurgence of crimes in some parts of the state, especially on theOnitsha-Owerri Road where ...
Ebonyi: Gunmen attack police station in Izzi
Some gunmen in the early hours of Monday attacked the Iboko Divisional Police Station in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria’s South-east. A police station was similarly attacked by gunmen in Akwa Ibom State on Monday. It is unclear, for now, if the attacks on police facilities, which are on the increase lately in the South-east and South-south regions, are coordinated. Details of the Ebonyi attack were unavailable at the time of filing the report. The attackers were said to have set the building ablaze, using fire bombs. Police Commissioner in Ebonyi State, Aliyu Garba, confirmed the incident. “Yes they attacked the station around 1a.m. but there was no casualties. “They threw improvised fire bomb at the station and it ignited but it only affected a small part of the build...
Zamfara government confirms abduction of female students
The Zamfara Government has confirmed the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata-Mafara Local Government area of the state. The confirmation was made by the Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, in a brief interview with newsmen in Gusau on Friday morning. The abductors in their hundreds invaded the town and took away the students at about 2am. “I can confirm to you now that we have sadly received the report on the abduction of the students of GGSS Jangebe and right now, I am on my way to the school. “At this moment, I cannot say how many students were taken away by the gunmen until l get there, but we have already mobilized security men and members of the vigilantatè who are now in pursuit of the abductors,” the co...
Crypto ban: We acted in Nigerians’ best interest – CBN
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, says the Bank’s decision to prohibit deposit money banks, non-banking institutions, and other financial institutions from facilitating trading and dealings in cryptocurrency is in the best interest of Nigerian depositors and the country’s financial system. Mr Emefiele made the declaration on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, while briefing a joint Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions; ICT and Cybercrime; and Capital Market, on its directive to institutions under its regulation. Describing the operations of cryptocurrencies as dangerous and opaque, the CBN Governor said the use of cryptocurrency contravened an existing law. He said given the fact that cryptocurrencies were issued by unregulated and...
