Bauchi
Rivers governor urges media practitioners to report objectively
Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Tuesday urged media practitioners to be more circumspect while reporting issues that could further polarise the country. Wike gave the advice in Port Harcourt at a meeting held to reconcile Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed. He advised media houses to play a role in stabilising the peace and unity of Nigeria. “The press should have a role to play in stabilising the country; it is not everything you must report. You don’t try to escalate things and when you do that you are not helping the country,” he said. Wike thanked the two governors for amicably resolving their differences. “We give God the glory today that the differences have been sorted out,” he said. Similarly, Ortom thanked Wike and Gov Ahmed Fintiri of Adamawa f...
Kidnappers abduct schoolchildren in northwest Nigeria – official
Kidnappers have abducted schoolchildren in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, a spokesman for the state governor said on Friday, but declined to say how many people were taken or provide further details. A police spokesman for the state did not immediately respond to calls and messages seeking comment. This is the second such kidnapping in a little over a week in Nigeria’s north, where a surge in armed militancy in the northwest has led to a widespread and worsening breakdown of security. Last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student in an overnight attack on a boarding school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger and kidnapped 42 people, including 27 students. The hostages are yet to be released. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are lo...
Justice Abdul Kafarati passes on
Justice Abdul Kafarati, the immediate past Chief Justice of the High Court of the Federation, has passed away. Justice Kafarati, who was once the Attorney General of Bauchi state gave his last breath on Thursday night. A family source who announced his passing in a statement said: “Innalillahi Wa inna ilaihi Rajiun. It is with deep sorry that I announced the passing away of our elder statesman, Hon Justice Abdul Kafarati the immediate past Chief Justice of High court of the Federation and former Bauchi State Attorney General which occurred this night (Thursday) after magrib Salat at Abuja.” He will be buried today after the Juma’at prayers at Janazah. Janazah is at Central Mosque Abuja after Friday prayers. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are l...
Bauchi deputy speaker asks Benue governor to apologise to Bauchi people
Following the statement by the Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom describing his counterpart in Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed as a terrorist, the Deputy Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA), Hon. Danlami Ahmed Kawule, who is also representing Zungur/Galambi Constituency has urged Ortom to apologise to the people of Bauchi State for making the alleged derogatory statement. The Deputy Speaker who stated this yesterday during an interview with journalists in Bauchi, said that the citizens of the state as well as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state are not happy over the strain in relationship between the two PDP governors who are supposed to be working towards the unity of the nation. He maintained that leaders in the country should refrain from making...
Coronavirus: Nigeria records 18 more deaths, 645 new infections
A total of 1,831 deaths have now been recorded from COVID-19 in Nigeria after 18 more people died on Saturday, health authorities have said. The 18 deaths on Saturday indicated a significant increase from the eight fatalities recorded on Friday. Nigeria also reported 645 new infections on Saturday, increasing the total number of known cases in the country to 151,553. This is according to an update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Saturday night. Low testing figures in many states has limited Nigeria’s ability to determine the true extent of the spread of COVID-19. A recent general fact sheet published by the NCDC showed that Kogi, Cross River and some other states were not conducting enough tests. More than two-third of the over 151,000 people infected by COVID-19 in Nigeri...
Femi Falana: Bala Mohammed punished Abuja residents for trespassing but defends open grazing
Naijaloaded Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, while serving as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, demolished people’s houses because they encroached on government land. Falana, therefore, stated that it was funny that Bala could turn around to say that herdsmen have a right to stray into people’s land and reside in forest reserves without government permission. The senior advocate said this in a write-up he sent to newsmen on Saturday. He wrote, “Under the Bala Mohammed administration in the FCT, thousands of houses were demolished on the grounds that they were illegally built on landed properties belonging to the Federal Government. “The ex-minister wanted to demolish the entire Mpape housing over a million people. He had claime...
Benue berates Bauchi governor over comments
The Benue State Government has described as shocking claims by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed that Governor Samuel Ortom was responsible for the negative perception of Fulani by other Nigerians. The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Animal Husbandry, Alhaji Shehu Tambaya, stated this in a chat with newsmen on Sunday. Tambaya, who described as unfortunate, Governor Mohammed’s statement about Governor Ortom, insisting that people from all works of life live do business in all parts of Benue without any problem. He maintained that although he would not want to join issues with Governor Mohammed, Governor Ortom has proven to be a lover of all Nigerians irrespective of political, ethnic or religious inclination. ‘Governor Mohammed is only trying to defend what is undefen...
Armed herdsmen: Group calls on President Buhari to caution Bauchi governor
An Edo State-based civil society organisation, the Foundation for Good Governance and Social Change (FGGSC), has called on the Presidency to caution the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Muhammed, over a statement credited to him justifying bearing of arms by Fulani herdsmen to protect their cows. The group, faulting the comments of the governor, described it as ‘reckless, provocative, divisive and unbecoming of the status of a governor in a pluralistic society like Nigeria.’ Addressing journalists in Benin City, the Executive Director of FGGSC, Austin Osakue, said the situation in Nigeria was similar to what led to the 30 months civil war in the late 1960s that resulted in wanton destruction of lives and properties. ‘The statement opens the floodgates of self-help for Nigerians of other ethn...
President Buhari writes Senate, seeks confirmation of service chiefs
President Muhammadu Buhari has written formally to the Senate for the confirmation of the appointment of the newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and service chiefs. He has also sought the consent of the upper legislative chamber for the appointment of the former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gabriel Olonisakin (rtd) and erstwhile service chiefs as non-career Ambassadors. The two separate confirmation request letters were read on Tuesday at the resumption of Senate plenary after the Christmas break by the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan. The first letter dated January 27, 2021 read in part: “In compliance with the provisions of Section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act. Cap A20 Laws the Federation of Nigeria 2004, I hereby forward for confirmation by the Senate, the app...
Nigerian government distributes relief materials to IDPs in Bauchi
The Federal Government has distributed relief materials to 578 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Shira Local Government Area of Bauchi. Alhaji Basheer Mohammed, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), made this known at the presentation of the materials to the IDPs on Saturday in Shira Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Represented by the North-East Zonal Coordinator, Mr Abdullahi Kaoje, he said the donation was part of the federal government’s commitment to bring succour to those affected by the activities of armed bandits and cattle rustlers in the state. Mohammed explained that the donated items were meant to serve as palliative measures to cushion the bad effects as a result of the loss of their loved ones...
Court fixes date to hear suit seeking to oust ex-Speaker Dogara from House over defection to APC
Twitter The Federal High Court, Abuja, will, on February 4, hear a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asking for the declaration of the seat of Rep Yakubu Dogara vacate on account of his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Justice Okon Abang fixed the date on the grounds that it was not convenient for the court to take the matter. Newsmen report that while the PDP and its Bauchi State Chairman, Hamza Akuyam, are the plaintiffs, Dogara, who was the immediate-past Speaker, House of Representatives; the speaker of the House; the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF); Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC are 1st to 5th defendants respectively in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1060/2020. NAN reports that Dogara, who represents Dass, Tafawa Bal...
Bauchi, Benue governors reconcile in Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, brokered a truce between the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed in Port Harcourt. The conflict was resolved following the intervention of Governor Wike and his Adamawa State counterpart, Governor Ahmed Fintiri. Briefing journalists at the meeting, which held at Governor Wike’s private residence at Rumuepirikom, Governor Mohammed said the outburst between him and Governor Ortom over herders/Fulani profiling was regrettable. “We don’t mean to divide the country, to divide our people. We are still friends and brothers and that we will move forward because most of those issues are fully resolved. “I want to seize this opportunity to tell Nigerians that whatever misconception that is there, th...