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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...
Edo APC writes off former chairman’s defection claims
Edo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday described claims by a former charman of the party, Anselm Ojezua that he was leaving the party with 150,000 members as spurious and unfounded. A statement yesterday by the State Assistant Publicity Secretary of the APC, Ofure Osehobor, said Ojezua had long left the party but that he was not popular enough to gather such a number of supporters being claimed. He said “This is deliberate falsehood because Edo people know that this man has no such followership. Moreover he left the party long before now. What is sad is that instead of staying quietly in his new party, he has chosen to embarrass himself with these claims. “Here is a man who has lost political relevance, in all its ramifications but decided to lurk around by hold...
Senator Musa: Two killed, 30 abducted, 5,000 homeless in Niger East
Chairman, Senate Services Committee, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, All Progressives Congress, APC, Niger East has raised the alarm that the insecurity situation in his Senatorial District is worsening every day, saying that it has been one week of sleeplessness and horror. Senator Musa has reiterated his call on President Muhammadu Buhari to put the security operatives on their toes to ensure they live up to their responsibilities of protecting the lives of the citizens, adding that if security agencies in the country cannot guarantee the protection of lives and property of the citizens, then Nigeria may be on the precipice of anarchy. According to him, the horrible event in the last one week in Niger State and particularly in Niger East Senatorial District has raised tension and uncertainti...
Governor Ganduje: Ex-President Jonathan right to sack Lamido Sanusi as CBN governor
Kano State governor Umar Ganduje said he is in support of former Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to sack Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of Central Bank of Nigeria in 2014. Ganduje said this at the launching of a book on Jonathan written by journalist Bonaventure Philips Melah in Abuja. “Jonathan took a bold step in sacking Sanusi as CBN Governor, which created bad blood in certain circles,” Ganduje said. “When Sanusi said $49 billion was lost in Jonathan’s government, I said in my mind that No, you could have discussed with him (Jonathan) privately. “You (Sanusi) could have given him this clue and then he would know how to investigate even before those who had stolen the money would find a way of hiding the money.” Jonathan in April 2014 sacked Sanusi as CBN governor over ...
Justice Tsoho: Why court froze #EndSARS promoters’ bank accounts
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, on Tuesday said that contrary to the belief in some quarters that the court intentionally froze the accounts of #Endsars promoters, it only played its part as an interpreter of the law. The CJ noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria had approached the court to ask for an order freezing certain accounts of corporate bodies and names of individuals over suspicion bordering on alleged money laundering. He however stated that the CBN did not attach any names to the applications. Justice Tsoho, spoke at the opening of the 2020/2021 legal year, Abuja on Tuesday. He noted that CBN’s request came about three months before the ENDSARS protest. The CJ was reacting to the speech by the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumid...
House of Reps demand immediate reinstatement of official sacked by President Buhari
The House of Representatives has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately reinstate the sacked Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Nasir Argungu. The lawmakers made the call on Tuesday while adopting a motion brought under matters of urgent national importance by Olajide Olatunbosun. The motion focussed on the 774,000 temporary jobs to be created in public works, initiated by the Buhari administration. The jobs led to a disagreement between the lawmakers and the minister of state for labour, Festus Keyamo. Mr Argungu is believed to have sided with the lawmakers. The lawmakers condemned the sack of the DG whom they described as a man that stood up for the right thing to be done. President Muhammadu Buhari had last week, through his spokesperson, anno...
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris jointly named TIME’s ‘Person of the Year’
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were jointly named Time magazine’s 2020 “Person of the Year” on Thursday, chosen from a list of finalists that included the man Biden vanquished at the polls – President Donald Trump. The Democratic former vice president and his running mate, a California senator whose election broke gender and racial barriers, together “offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket,” Time said in a profile of the pair, published online with its announcement. Following the most tumultuous U.S. presidential campaign in modern times, waged in the throes of a deadly pandemic, economic devastation and a strife-torn national reckoning with racism, Biden and Harris prevailed in an election that drew the highest voter turnout in a century....
Osun monarch declares war on ritualists
The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has declared war against ritual killings in his domain, saying he would confiscate the ritualists’ den that was recently discovered in Iwo. Oba Akanbi, who condemned ritual killings, said no man of conscience would kill fellow human beings for monetary gain. In a statement made available to journalists through his press secretary, Alli Ibraheem, the monarch expressed shock that some elements in his domain engaged in ritual killings despite the regular campaigns against the ills. It described the perpetrators as “bastards” and urged security agencies to conduct full investigation into the development. The statement partly read, “As an ardent campaigner against ritual killings, I condemn in totality the recently discovered ritual den in Iyemoja, Iwo...
House of Reps summons auditor-general over $36.1 million World Bank loan
The House of Representatives has summoned the acting Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Aghughu Adolphus, over a $36.1m facility under the Fiscal Governance and Institutions Project of the World Bank, to the office. The House Committee on Public Accounts issued the summons at its public hearing in Abuja on Tuesday. Adolphus, who had earlier been invited by the committee, had failed to show up on Tuesday. His representatives led by a Deputy Director, Mr Babalola Olanrewaju, could not explain to the lawmakers the rationale behind taking the loan. Chairman of the committee, Mr Wole Oke, said, “We want to know what the loan was meant for before going to sign for it. What was your procurement plan before arriving at that figure? Or is it a reward? We need to know the programme plan, how you ...
Ethiopia government admits forces ‘shot at’ UN team in Tigray
An Ethiopian spokesman on Tuesday said that the country’s forces fired on a UN team, claiming they ignored instructions and drove through government checkpoints in the northern region of Tigray. The shooting came as the UN and aid agencies are continuing to seek access to northern Ethiopia, more than a week after fighting there was declared over on November 28. “Some of the UN staff were actually detained and some were shot at,” said Redwan Hussein. “They broke two checkpoints to drive to areas where they were not supposed to go, and that they were told not to go. When they were about to break the third one, they were shot at and detained.” Speaking at a press conference in the capital Addis Ababa, Redwan insisted the UN staffers were to blame for Sunday’s incident close to the town of Shi...
Ex-President Jonathan: I was judged harshly before 2015 elections because …
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said he was wrongly judged by some of his friends and political opponents before the 2015 presidential election because of his personal convictions and the vision he had for the country. He, however, insisted that he does not hold any grudge against his detractors for their harsh criticisms. It would be recalled that the ex-President was widely criticised, before the election, for his approach to alleged corruption in his administration, the perennial problem of insecurity, and the sacking of some top government functionaries within his administration including the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, among other. Speaking in Abuja during the public presentation of a book ‘Dear...