State
Yoruba Nation: Police arrest, teargas protesters in Lagos
The Ojota venue of the Yoruba Nation rally has turned rowdy as police teargassed and also shot in the air to disperse protesters. Police also sprayed water cannon on the protesters to forestall the breakdown of order. Newsmen observed that more security operatives including men of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and their vans have been deployed to the venue of the protest. The Police also arrested some protesters at the venue of the rally and were kept in the waiting Black Maria. They also cordoned off the strategic points where the protesters had gathered. Motorists and other road users have also been advised to ply alternative routes to their destinations. Earlier, Odumosu while speaking to journalists, stressed that Lagos State ...
APC insists Governor Matawalle is Zamfara party leader
The All Progressives Congress on Friday reiterated its conferment of the leadership of the Zamfara State chapter of the party on Governor Bello Matawalle. This is coming on the heels of the rejection of the governor’s leadership by former governor Abdelaziz Yari, and a party stalwart, Senator Kabiru Marafa. The Chairman, Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee of the party, Governor Mai Mala Buni, had while welcoming Matawalle into the party, dissolved the APC state executive committee and announced Matawalle as the new party leader. However, Yari and Marafa had in separate interviews with the Hausa Service of the BBC, rejected Buni’s declaration, insisting that negotiations were still ongoing. When contacted, via the telephone, on Friday, the National Secretary of t...
Brazilian potential presidential candidate announces he is gay
Brazilian governor and potential major party presidential candidate Eduardo Leite, a prominent critic of President Jair Bolsonaro, came out as gay in a TV interview. Leite, governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, would be the first openly gay presidential candidate in Brazil. Anti-gay rhetoric has been a staple of speeches by Bolsonaro, who once declared that if he had a gay son, he would rather the child died in an accident. “I have never spoken about a subject related to my private life,” Leite told Brazilian journalist Pedro Bial in a TV interview on Thursday evening. “But during this moment of low integrity in Brazil, I have nothing to hide, I am gay. I am a governor who is gay, not a gay governor, as former President Obama in the US was a president who was Black, not a Bl...
South Africa’s Jacob Zuma mounts last-ditch legal fight against jail term
South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma on Friday mounted a last-ditch legal bid to avoid prison after the country’s top court ordered him jailed for failing to appear before graft investigators. In a landmark ruling, the Constitutional Court on Tuesday handed Zuma a 15-month term for contempt after he snubbed a probe into the theft of state assets under his tenure. If the 79-year-old fails to turn himself in by Sunday, police will be given a further three days to arrest him and take him to jail to start the sentence. As the deadline loomed, Zuma pleaded on Friday that the order be “reconsidered and rescinded.” “It will not be futile,” Zuma said in papers filed to the court, “to make one last attempt to invite the Constitutional Court to relook its decision and to merely reassess whether it...
Suspected herdsmen amputate farmer in Nasarawa
Herdsmen suspected to be a bandits dislodged from other state has on Friday attacked a farmer at his farm, machetes him and cut his two hands at Ome Community in Obi Local Government Area of the state. According to eye witness who disclosed to the incident to newsmen said the victim was at his farm working when the Fulani herdsmen invade his crops in the process of telling the herdsmen to leave the farm, then he was attacked. An eye witness who narrowly escaped attacked explain the ordeal ” We were in the farm when we saw herdsmen grazing on the victim farm in the process of asked them to leave the farm, then we saw them make calls unknowingly to us we saw their men with Cutlass following us and accidentally the victim fall down on the process of running for safety when they herdsmen cut t...
Ondo assembly passes anti-open grazing, judicial autonomy bills into law
In a bid to regulate the activities of herdsmen and the rearing of livestock in the state, the Ondo State House of Assembly has passed into law the anti-open grazing bill. The House also passed into law the bill on the autonomy of the judiciary and the bill on violence against persons prohibition. The bills were passed after the chairmen of three committees submitted their reports on the bill. The plenary session of the Assembly, held on Thursday, was presided over by the Speaker, Mr Bamidele Oloyeloogun. Speaking on the bills at the session, the committee chairmen remarked that the bills were in the best interest of all citizens of Ondo State. On the anti-open grazing bill, Mr Taofik Mohammed of the House Committee on Agriculture explained that the bill was to regulate rearing and grazing...
Deputy governor unveils new coach for Edo Queens
The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has announced Wemimo Matthew as the new head coach for Edo Queens Football Club with a charge to return the team to its glory days. Shaibu who supervised the unveiling ceremony at the New Festival Hall, Government House, on Friday, charged the new coach to use her wealth of experience to transform the team. He said, “What we’ve done with Edo Queens is to make it a model for the girl child to look up to. So, we decided to unveil a new head coach because of our poor performance in the just concluded Super Six tournament. “Coach Wemimo Matthew is well-educated, highly disciplined and she has the knack for unearthing and grooming young talents. We have already felt her impact since she joined the team. “She will help us develop young talent and ...
FRSC seeks partnership with EEDC to enhance operations in Enugu
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it will partner the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to enhance its operational capabilities within Enugu State. The FRSC Sector Commander in Enugu State, Mr Joseph Udoabba, said this when he paid a courtesy visit to the management of EEDC at its corporate headquarters in Enugu on Thursday. Udoabba said that the visit was essentially to “further fortify and cement the already existing cordial relationship’’ between the Command and EEDC. “I hope we will continue on that cordial note,’’ he said. He also commended the efforts of EEDC in ensuring effective electricity distribution in the state as well as entire South-East states. “FRSC is soliciting for support in the area of power supply to its Command headquarters, unit and licensing off...
PDP salutes Governor Obaseki at 64
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo State as he marks his 64th birthday. The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Thursday described Obaseki as a courageous leader. He also described him as a brilliant technocrat, highly resourceful and ingenious administrator. The party spokesman said that Obaseki had continued to exhibit an exceptional commitment towards the unity, stability and development of not only Edo State but the nation at large. Ologbondiyan said that the PDP was proud of the outstanding achievements recorded by Obaseki in the development of Edo State, particularly in the critical sectors, in line with the manifesto of the party. The sectors, according to him, include infrastructur...
Imo governor presents cheques to families of deceased soldiers
Gov. Hope Uzodinma has presented undisclosed amount of money in cheques to six families of deceased soldiers who lost their lives recently while on duty in Imo. Uzodinma presented the cheques on Thursday during condolence visits to the 34th Artillery Brigade, Obinze, the 211 Regiment of the Nigerian Airforce Base, Naze, and families of deceased soldiers. Speaking during the visits, the governor pledged continuous support and commitment to the families to boost their morale and bring lasting solution to the security crisis in the state. Uzodinma, while presenting the cheques to the families and next of kin of the fallen soldiers, prayed to God to grant them fortitude to bear the loss. Earlier, the Brigade Commander, Brig.-Gen. Raymond Utsaha, expressed gratitude to Uzodinma for identifying ...
Gunmen kidnap six workers in Kogi
Gunmen have kidnapped six workers of a ceramic company located at Itobe, Kogi. The Public Relations Officer of the Police Command in the State, DSP William Aya, told newsmen on Wednesday that the workers were kidnapped on June 29. Aya said that the workers were working at one of the mining sites of the company located at Emiworo community in Ajaokuta Local Government Area when they were abducted. Aya, however, explained that the police were only informed about the incident on Wednesday morning. The kidnappers who were said to be heavily armed overpowered the workers before marching them into the bush. Aya said that the police in collaboration with other security agencies had commenced a manhunt for the kidnappers. He assured that the victims would be rescued unhurt anytime from now. Meanwh...
Ondo government reads riot act to cultists
Ondo State government has declared a clampdown on cultists and cult activities in the state. The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Donald Ojogo, who disclosed this during a media briefing shortly after the State Executive Council meeting, warned parents and guardians to caution their children and wards against cultism. He said “the State Executive Council noted the activities of cultists and cult groups. As you know, Ondo state is not insulated from the menance of cultism. There will be a clampdown on cult activities and cult groups in the state.” Also, he disclosed that the council reiterated the ban on commercial motorcyclists operations in the state. “Council noted the activities of commercial motorcyclists and reiterated that the ban placed on Okada riders from op...
