Community
Bandits kidnap village head, wives, others in Katsina
Bandits on Monday night kidnapped the village head of Kaigar Malamai, Kabir Muhammed Ajiya, his two wives and 14 other peasant farmers in Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina state. The bandits were said to have also ransacked the entire village, injuring six other persons and rustled unspecified cows in the village. A survivor of the attack, Umar Abdulsalam, who spoke to newsmen in a telephone interview on Tuesday, said the villagers had relocated to Dan-Musa town and other nearby villages in the local government. Newsmen report that bandits had earlier kidnapped 80 pupils of Hizburrahim Islamiyya School in Mahuta village of Dandume Local Government Area of the state but were rescued by a team of security operatives. He said, “yesterday (Monday) at about 9pm some armed Fulani people r...
Reports: New coronavirus strain from Britain identified in Nigeria
A new strain of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that grounded the global economy for all of 2020, has been identified in Nigeria. The mutant variant was first identified in the United Kingdom (UK) and has caused several countries to ban flights from the UK. It has also led the UK government to announce a slew of fresh restrictions and lockdowns. Newsmen report that this new strain has been identified in Nigeria by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State. In a publication in Virological, a website for the global Genomics community, the scientists say they found the same variant “lineage B.1.1.7” in Osun State, Southwest Nigeria since August 3, 2020, when the first sample was collected...
Ex-IGP: Amotekun corps not permitted to carry arms
A retired Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero has appealed to operatives of the South West Security Network (Amotekun corps) to strictly adhere to the country’s constitution that forbids them from bearing fire-arm in the course of their operation. Ehindero said the regional Corps was to be an information and intelligence gathering outfit rather than an arm carrying one, stressing that the law that established the outfit doesn’t make provision for it to be arm-bearing. The former IGP advised that the Corps should key into the community policing and work in synergy with the Special Constables and the Police Force in order to combat insecurity at the grassroots. The former IGP spoke at the Community Policing Sensitisation and Awareness Campaign held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capita...
Governor Lalong mourns NIPSS deceased chief
Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau has described the death of Prof. Habu Galadima, the Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos, as a “great loss” to Nigeria. Lalong said this in a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Affairs (DOPA), Dr Makut Macham, in Jos. He also said that the demise of Galadima was a huge loss to his immediate family, NIPSS, Plateau and Nasarawa states. He said that the deceased would be greatly missed by the academic community in Nigeria and the diaspora. “Prof. Galadima is an astute scholar of international repute, administrator and professional who demonstrated uncommon commitment in carrying out every responsibility he was assigned. “Since he assumed office one year ago, Galadima had injected a fr...
Official: Amotekun corps never killed anybody in Ibadan
The Commandant of Oyo State Security Network, codenamed Amotekun Corps, Col Olayinka Olayanju (retd), has dismissed the media report that operatives of the agency opened gunfire on some residents of Ibadan, killed two and injured many. He confirmed that there was a crisis around Born Photo and Isale Osi area, where the men of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) faction of late Dr Frederick Fasehun, was trying to deal with some hoodlums. According to him, the operatives of Amotekun Corps were invited and its operatives went to the scene. The personnel of the agency that went to the scene, he said were returning from an operation, where a Lebanese man was rescued from his abductors on December 15. The incident reportedly occurred at Asaka area of Ibadan. But two persons and many other people, a...
Gunmen kill seven, burn 13 houses in Kaduna community
Seven people have been killed by gunmen in Gora Gan community, Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna state. One person was also injured, while 13 houses and two shops were burnt by the bandits. The incident occurred on Thursday night when the gunmen invaded the community and opened fire on residents. It was learnt that the bandits surrounded the community and shot sporadically as residents scampered to safety. The Kaduna state commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday in Kaduna. “The security agencies carrying out internal security operations in parts of southern Kaduna State have reported that Gora Gan community in Zangon Kataf Local Government came under attack on Thursday night”, Aruwan said. According t...
Court remands five over Rivers PDP chairman’s murder
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Thursday remanded in the Port Harcourt correctional facility five suspects allegedly involved in the murder of late Mr Nwozuruka Anele, a Peoples Democratic Party Chairman in the Alakahia community, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of the state on September 21, 2019. The accused persons are Blessing Ogbuagu, Bright Chima-Wali, Nnamdi Emenike, Thankgod Akani and Chibuchi Solomon-Festus. Counsel for the state, Chidi Ekeh, told the court that the defendants were also members of a secret cult known as Icelanders and were illegally in possession of firearms, thereby infringing on the state’s firearm prohibition and anti-cultism laws. The defendants, who are facing five counts bordering on murder, illegal possession of firearms and cultism, p...
2023: There was no pre-merger agreement in APC on zoning – Senator Yerima
A former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima, has denied that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had any premerger agreement to rotate the presidency between the north and the south. Yerima disclosed this yesterday during a media interaction with reporters covering the activities of the APC. His claim was contrary to the views of the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who recently said that the party had a gentleman agreement on zoning. Yerima said: “I don’t think there is anything like agreement. You can ask Mr. President, he led the group, Asiwaju was there, I was part of it, there was no meeting I didn’t attend or any meeting that I attended that there is such agreement. Agreement can’t be verbal. It has to be written. In any case, any agreement that is co...
ExxonMobil staff killed, others wounded in gas flaring accident
File Photo Fire explosion from a gas flaring operation at the Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) process area at ExxonMobil facility in Ibeno local government area, Akwa Ibom State has allegedly killed some staff of the company and left others wounded. It was gathered that the incident happened on Sunday, December 13, 2020, when the victims were about to light up the gas flaring plant. Sources who preferred to remain unnamed said one of the victims who was killed was a supervisor working at the facility’s processing area, while another supervisor injured by the explosion had been rushed to an undisclosed hospital in the state. He said it was possible that the victims who were to turn on the plant shut for maintenance purposes, flouted all safety procedures that would have averted the explosion. “Two ...
Police recruit 503 special constables in Nasarawa
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has engaged 503 Special Constables (SCP) for community policing in Nasarawa State, to enhance intelligence gathering in tackling insecurity and crime. Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 4, Mr. Jonah John, made the disclosure on Monday in Lafia, at a one-day sensitisation campaign on community policing in Nasarawa. According to him, 49 of the 503 recruited SCP have successfully undergone training and posted to their various communities in the state to serve. The AIG added that 454 of the recruited SCP were currently undergoing training at the police Zone 4 Headquarters in Makurdi, Benue State. Speaking at the event, Peter Yisa-Gana, Inspector-General of Police (IGP’s) Special Rapporteur on Community Policing for Nasarawa, Benue and P...
Group moves to reintegrate displaced persons
Agence France-Presse The initiator of The Skilled Women Initiative (TWINI), Chizom Nwankwo, has said the group intensified efforts in re-integrating some internally displaced persons in Abuja. Nwankwo said the displaced persons would be re-integrated into the community through the group’s learn, earn and blend model. She said with the plan, beneficiaries are taught vocational and technical skills of their choice, added with entrepreneurial skills to help them earn money. She said the beneficiaries had agreed to leave the internally displaced camp after 18 months. She also said the group created a market for the products to encourage beneficiaries, adding, “This is just like a factory. They are making soaps, shoes, cloths. If we are able to gather them and give them jobs, we create another ...
Bill to extend free education to senior secondary school passes second reading
A Bill for an Act to amend the Compulsory, Free, Universal Basic Education Act on Wednesday, passed second reading in the House of Representatives. The bill, which seeks to expand the scope of compulsory free basic education in Nigeria to include, Senior Secondary Education level, was sponsored by Taiwo Oluga and four other lawmakers. Leading the debate, Ms Oluga said the bill sought to amend sections 2, 4, 7, 11 and 15 of the existing Act. The lawmaker said the aim was to provide for rehabilitation of delinquent children and provide comprehensive definition for services, stakeholders, children or wards as captured in the existing Act. According to her, this will be done by providing a role for community based organisations in the development of basic education in states and local governme...
