Residents
Rainstorm destroys houses, properties in Plateau communities
More than 50 houses and other properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed by rainstorm in communities in Qua’an pan Local Government Area of Plateau State. Residents said the rainstorm, which started Sunday night and lasted till the early hours of Monday, was accompanied by a heavy windstorm that blew off roofs of several houses and rendered many families homeless. The Chairman of the council, Hon. Abdulmalik Yusuf Haruna, in a statement signed by his Senior Assistant on Media, Mr. Mathias Yengoet Dajan, said that the management and residents of Quaan-Pan Local Government Area are devastated by the level of destruction. The statement added that the chairman has personally gone round some of the affected structures to ascertain the level of damage and has sympathised with the vic...
Niger governor: Video of Boko Haram forcefully converting people to Islam fake
The governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, debunked a video now going viral on social media of Boko Haram elements forcefully converting people to Islam. The video of Boko Haram of terrorists forcing Niger State residents to convert to Islam was shared by former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Twitter. “Boko Haram and ISWA forcefully converting people to Islam in the parts of Niger state that they have captured, conquered, occupied and flown their flag, he captioned it. “This is happening just two hours from Abuja! I warned you.” The Niger State governor in his reaction tweeted that the video was an old video and that it did not originate from Nigeria. “Please query your sources as this is not Niger State or even Nigeria. We understand that this video is from Ivory Coast ...
Yoruba monarchs ask Nigerian government to beef-up security in South-West
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, have expressed displeasure over the dimension insecurity has taken in Nigeria. They spoke at the 51st birthday celebration of Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Saturday. Alaafin regretted that bandits and kidnappers now have a monopoly of violence. The first-class monarch, however, charged the Federal Government to be proactive in ensuring that the southwest is safe for residents “The monopoly of violence must be concentrated in government but regrettably we are not having that now. Bandits and kidnappers now have a monopoly of violence than the government which is the reason why we are in this current situation,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by Adams’ media aide, Kehinde Aderemi. Ad...
Angry mob kills five ‘armed robbers’ in Abuja
Five suspected armed robbers met their Waterloo on Tuesday in Apo area of Abuja as angry traders fished them out and killed them instantly in what could best be described as jungle justice. Newsmen gathered that the heavily armed robbers robbed PoS operators and traders around Apo Mechanic Village successfully. Luck, however, ran out on them when one of the traders recognised one of them and led traders to his house. It was gathered that after the operation, the traders and residents mobilised in their numbers to the house of the robbers and killed two of them on the spot at Apo area. They later traced three others to Kabusa and Waru areas where they dragged them out and killed them too. As at the time of filling this report, the FCT Command Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mariam Yusu...
Women lament high cost of food items, consumables in Makurdi
Residents, particularly housewives in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, have lamented the increase in prices of food items. A survey conducted by NAN on Tuesday in Makurdi showed that prices of food items have been increasing on a daily basis. Many housewives interviewed by newsmen said that feeding their families has now become very difficult as the prices of essential food items have multiplied in the past few months. Mrs Rose Onazi, a housewife, said that the sharp rise in prices of various goods, especially food and household items, has made nonsense of the amount she receives as a monthly housekeeping allowance from her husband. Onazi said that many of the items she bought a week before had increased either by 50 per cent, 100 per cent or even more. She said that the development had s...
Forces opposed to Somali president control parts of Mogadishu
Gunmen opposed to Somalia’s Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed had control of strategic parts of the capital Mogadishu on Monday, Reuters journalists saw, after factions in the security forces clashed at the weekend over his term extension. Mohamed signed a law earlier this month extending his mandate for two years after elections were cancelled, setting off a political furore that threatens to distract Somalia’s armed forces from fighting al Qaeda-linked insurgents. The presidential term extension has also irked foreign donors, who have backed his fragile government in the hope of bringing long-needed stability to the Horn of Africa nation largely in turmoil since a 1991 civil war. After exchanges of gunfire rocked Mogadishu on Sunday and some forces came from outside the capital, anti-Mohamed fac...
Somali president’s backers in gun clash with opponents – residents
Supporters of Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and those opposed to the extension of his four-year term clashed on Sunday on the streets of the capital, residents said. The president signed a law in mid-April extending his mandate for two years, stoking opposition inside Somalia and putting him on a collision course with Western and other donors opposed to the move. Somalia, which plunged into war and chaos in 1991, has been struggling to re-establish the authority of central government and rebuild the nation, with international help. The failure to hold elections that were due in February sparked a new crisis. “There is gunfire between pro-opposition military and government forces at Fagah Junction,” Halima Osman, a resident of Fagah in Mogadishu, said after Reuters witnesses...
Anambra CP charges officers to protect themselves, resist further attacks
The Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Monday Kuryas, has charged the personnel to protect themselves against attacks by hoodlums as well as reclaim police facilities from them. Kurya gave the directive in a lecture held for the police management team, Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers and Heads of Police Tactical Operational Units in the command. This was contained in a statement by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, which was made available to newsmen in Awka on Saturday. The statement noted that Kuryas charged the officers to be undeterred by the attacks by gunmen and resist such attacks on security personnel and infrastructure in the command. “The CP charged the officers to be undeterred by the recent unfortunate incidents of attacks on person...
House rejects bill seeking to reduce cases in Supreme Court
The House of Representatives yesterday voted out a bill seeking to limit the category of litigations that can be appealed at the Supreme Court. The intention of the bill was to reduce the workload on the apex court, and speed up justice delivery. The lawmakers at the plenary yesterday considered for second reading, ‘A Bill for An Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (First Alteration) Act, 2010; and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Second Alteration) Act, 2010, to make appeals to the Supreme Court to be by leave in order to reduce workload on the court, expedite hearing and determination of appeals, and encourage efficiency and quality; and for related matters.’ Chai...
Red Cross condemns ‘horrific’ sexual violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray
The Red Cross voiced alarm Thursday over “horrific” accounts of sexual violence in Ethiopia’s conflict-hit Tigray region, amid fears that rape was being used as a weapon of war. Robert Mardini, director-general of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross, said the organisation’s staff in hospitals and clinics in the region were hearing first-hand of extreme sexual violence. “Those reports are extremely horrific, very shocking,” he told AFP in an interview, adding that this was a “matter of grave concern”. “I haven’t heard such terrible accounts for more than two decades in the humanitarian sector,” said Mardini, who among other things closely followed the civil wars in Syria and Yemen when he headed ICRC’s Near and Middle East division from 2012 to 2018. “Many of my humani...
Ohanaeze warns Nigerian Army to stop mass arrest of Igbo youths
Ohanaeze Ndigbo has raised alarm over the alleged massive arrest of Igbo youths by the Nigerian army and taken to unknown destinations. Ohanaeze said the mass arrest is going on in Ohaji and Oguta Communities of Imo State by military personnel believed to be from 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri. The arrested youths were alleged to be members of Eastern Security Network, ESN, according to the apex Igbo group. Ohanaeze wondered why the army were arresting Igbo youths who bear no arms and allow Fulani herdsmen to move around with AK 47 riffles. They called on the Chief of army staff to immediately stop the mass arrests. The Professor George Obiozor led Ohanaeze in a statement signed by its spokesman, Alex Ogbonnia said: “The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to ongoing massiv...
NIN: Kaduna agency supports enrolment of 2.1 million poor, vulnerable
File Photo The Kaduna State Residents Registration Agency (KADSRRA) says it is supporting the enrollment of 2.1 million poor and vulnerable captured in the State Social Register for the National Identity Number (NIN). Its Executive Secretary, Dr Zayyad Tsiga, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna on Thursday. Tsiga said that Kaduna State with support from the National Social Safety-Net Coordination Office had so far captured 2.1 million individuals. He said that KADSRRA was working with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to enroll all the poor and vulnerable individuals into the National Identity Database (NIDB). This, Tsiga said, would enable the poor and vulnerable to obtain the state residency card and NIN, which would be required to access social protec...
