Northwest
Katsina judge kidnapped inside court
Gunmen have abducted a judge at a Sharia Court in Bauren Zakat village in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State. Witnesses told newsmen that the attackers broke into the court around 3pm on Tuesday and abducted the judge identified as Alhaji Husaini Sama’ila. The court was relocated to Safana due to security reasons. It is not clear why the judge was in court during the industrial action embarked upon by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). JUSUN had on April 6 embarked on a strike, demanding compliance with the provisions of sections 81(3), 121(3) and 162(9) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on financial autonomy of the judicial arm at the state level. Katsina is one of the NorthWest states where bandits are wreaking havoc. Security operatives are yet to react to this ...
Thugs disrupt PDP North West zonal executive committee congress
File Photo The Northwest zonal executive committee congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna, headquarters of the North West was disrupted Saturday following a clash between major contenders. The major contenders for the position of National Vice Chairman for north west zone include Senator Bello Hayatudeen Gwarzo, Aminu Wali and former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Details of those behind the disruption and sponsors were not clear as the venue became chaotic, ballot boxes were snatched away forcing the organisers to postpone the Congress Nobody was available to speak on the matter as everybody scampered for safety for fear of being attacked by the thugs who brandished various weapons damaging some items including the ballot boxes. Get more stories like this ...
Vulnerable marsupial released into predator-free enclosure in Australia
More than a century since they were declared extinct in the Australian state of New South Wales, the bilby, a vulnerable marsupial with rabbit-like ears, has been reintroduced into a large, predator-free area in a remote desert park 1,200 kilometers northwest of Sydney. The release is part of a new breeding program at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales state. The release of 10 bilbies is a bold attempt to turn back the clock to a time in Australia when native animals weren’t savaged by feral cats and foxes. Since European colonization, the bilby population has fallen by 80%. Rabbits, another invasive species, also compete with the marsupials for food and shelter. They face other threats from land clearing and bushfires. Bilbies survive in the wild only in parts of central and we...
Cameroon to hold first regional elections in December
Cameroon’s veteran leader, Paul Biya, on Monday, announced the country first regional elections in December, including in two western regions in the grip of a revolt by the anglophone minority. The indirect elections on December 6 in the country’s 10 regions will put in place councils provided for in a 1996 constitution in a move towards decentralisation but not yet implemented. These councils will also be elected in the two western regions where a nearly three-year-old insurgency has claimed over 3,000 lives. The two restive anglophone regions are home to a large minority of English speakers in a country where French speakers are the overwhelming majority — a situation that is the legacy of the decolonisation of western Africa by France and Britain more than six decades ago. Years of rese...
55 Coronavirus patients discharged in Jigawa
The Jigawa State Government has announced the discharge of 55 Coronavirus patients who tested negative twice for the virus. Auwal D Sankara, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media, said in a statement that 55 COVID-19 patients were confirmed to have been cured and discharged after testing negative twice in Jigawa state, Northwest Nigeria. This brings the total number of discharged patients in the state to 62, with three fatalities. The statement quoted the Commissioner for Health and the chairman of the state Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Abba Zakari, as saying that the state was hoping to discharge more soon. Meanwhile, the commissioner said the state has recorded 15 additional cases and imposed lockdown in three additional towns affected to prevent further spread of the virus...
NUJ calls for Sheikh Gumi’s arrest
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), on Friday, called for the arrest of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for saying journalists are criminals for calling bandits criminals. The union expressed reservation on Gumi’s remarks during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday where he labelled journalists as criminals for calling bandits criminals. In his interview, Gumi said: “You are emphasising on criminality, I don’t know. Even the Press (journalists) are criminals too because they are putting oil into fire [sic]. These people are listening to you, don’t address them as criminals”. “It is instructive to note that one of the gangs that were recently interviewed by Nigerian journalist, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz and published in Daily Trust of today where the bandit leader insisted on being introduced properly as...