Russian police and officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) today raided the homes of several Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow, in an ongoing crackdown. Moscow outlawed the sect in 2017, labelling it “extremist,” following up with the sentencing of apprehended members to lengthy jail terms. The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, confirmed the detaining of several leaders and members. Prosecutors, the FSB security services and the national guard carried out searches at 16 addresses, the committee said. Investigators said the Jehovah’s Witnesses had established a branch in the capital where “secret meetings” were convened to study “religious literature”. Founded in the United States in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell, the religious movement has been repeatedly accu...
The APC crisis in Zamfara state might have been over as the Senator Kabiru Marafa faction meet in Kaduna to finalize moves of reconciling with the Abdulaziz Yari faction. This development followed the meeting convened by the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, where virtually all the APC stakeholders in Zamfara attended. Senator Kabiru Marafa, who addressed hundreds of his supporters on Saturday in Kaduna, said their resolve to reconcile was in the general interest of Zamfara state. He said “we are meeting with critical stakeholders of our faction (APC Mai Jama’a, which literally means APC of the grassroot) today in Kaduna.” “You will recall that the chairman of the caretaker committee of our party, His Excellency, Governor...
Two young men suspected to be kidnappers have been arrested in Supare Akoko in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State while trying to abduct a child in his family house. The two suspected kidnappers were caught after pretending like scavengers looking for used iron and plastic materials to buy. A source said that the two suspects were tackled when the mother of the child noticed their movement and the bag they wanted to use to carry the child. The mother of the boy, it was gathered immediately raised the alarm and the people in the neighbourhood assisted her in apprehending the suspects who attempted to escape. The two hoodlums were said to have been handed over to the police in Supare Akoko for further investigation. Efforts to get the Divisional Police Officer in charge of ...
Mr. Orman Esin, the Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, has said the ‘Christmas Village’ generated more than N1 billion to the state economy since Dec. 1, 2020. Esin announced this to newsmen in Uyo on Friday. He said that the opening of the village had brought some life back to holidaymakers and citizens of the state. “The Christmas village has created value of more than N1 billion since it was opened on Dec. 1, 2020,’’ he said. “More than 600 vendors attract thousands of visitors every evening, adding that the Christmas village became a must-visit place in Nigeria every December. “With the ravaging Covid19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the 2020 Christmas season looked bleak. “Annual events were cancelled all over the world including the record-setting annual 999 events in...
Police Command in Bauchi state has arrested a 22-year-old man, suspected to be a ritualist for alleged gruesome murder of his neighbour in Alkaleri Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. DSP Ahmed Wakil, Police Public Relations office (PPRO) of the command disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Bauchi. Wakil said that the Alkaleri divisional police officers arrested Hamza Musa, the 22-year-old man, for the gruesome killing of his 17-year-old neighbour, Adamu Ibrahim, at wake village, Alkaleri LGA. “On 21/12/2020 at about 0930hrs, detectives of Alkaleri Divisional Police Headquarters, arrested one Musa Hamza, who lured one Adamu Ibrahim of the same address into the outskirts of the village forest and killed him with a stick. “The victim was beheaded, his two eyes removed and his body...
Leveraging on excess liquidity that persisted in the banking system and the near zero yields on treasury bills (TBs), the Federal Government, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), raised N2.1 trillion from investors in its monthly bond issuance programme in 2020. This represents 33 percent, year-on-year, (y/y) increase when compared with the N1.58 trillion raised by the DMO in 2019. The N2.1 trillion raised in 2020 also represents 31 percent more than the N1.6 trillion funding target for the DMO under the Revised 2020 Budget. Meanwhile, the monthly bond auctions conducted by the DMO in 2020 recorded 275 percent oversubscription, reflecting scramble for the high yielding FGN bonds by investors. Newsmen report on monthly bond auction results show that the DMO offered N1.825 trillion wort...
Anti-coup protests ring out in Myanmar’s main city
The din of banging pots and honking car horns reverberated through Myanmar’s biggest city of Yangon late on Tuesday in the first widespread protest against the military coup that overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The party of the detained Nobel Peace laureate called for her release by the junta that seized power on Monday and is keeping her at an undisclosed location. It also demanded recognition of her victory in a November election. A senior official from her National League for Democracy (NLD) said he had learned she was in good health a day after her arrest in a military takeover that derailed Myanmar’s tentative progress towards full democracy. The U.N. Security Council was due to meet later on Tuesday amid calls for a strong global response to the military’s latest seizure o...