Thursday
Musician apologises to Kogi commissioner, others over allegation of wife snatching
A Kogi-based musician, Tanimu Yunusa, has apologised to the State Commissioner for Work, Engr Abubakar Ohere, over allegation of attempting to induce and snatch his wife. Tanimu, who is also known as 2rich, a local Ebira musician from Obehira in Okene local government area of Kogi state in a music video recorded in Ebira Language and released on Thursday admitted that he made error for lying the allegation against the commissioner. “My father Ohere, I’m sorry” Tanimu said severally in the video, while displaying several photos of him and the commissioner in a bid to tell the viewers that they have come a long way. Tanimu also apologised to the governor of the State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, admitting severally that he was wrong and begged for his understanding and forgiveness. He also apologis...
Mali coup: Ghana to host Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit in Accra
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has stated that the country will on Sunday, May 30, host an Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit in Accra. Addressing the press, Saturday, Mrs. Ayorkor Botchwey noted that the purpose of the meeting is to enable several heads of state, led by Chairman President Akufo-Addo to address the current political tensions in Mali. “In line with the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance, the President of the Republic, Nana-Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo in his capacity as chair of the ECOWAS authority of heads of state and government, following due consultations with his peers decided to convene this extraordinary summit. “The purpose of the Summit is to enable the authority to deliberate and take consequential decisions on the evolving polit...
Police arrest ‘internet scammer’ for ‘killing’ twin brother
Delta Police Command has apprehended a suspected internet scammer at Oleh, headquarters of Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State for allegedly killing his twin brother. The suspect, it was gathered, was found with a dog and the decomposing body of the deceased in their apartment at Old Olomoro Road on Monday after neighbours perceived a strange smell emanating from the flat. The source said the corpse of the deceased had been deposited in a mortuary in the area while the suspect and his dog were arrested by the police. Though the reason for the killing could not be ascertained at press time, sources said it may have been carried out for ritual purposes. A source who craved anonymity, disclosed that the house was locked for some days and after sometime, the people living in the com...
NCS: Nigerian government to inaugurates Funtua inland dry port November
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, will in November inaugurate the ongoing Funtua Inland Dry Port project in Sokoto State. Also the French government has indicated its interest in collaborating with its Nigerian counterpart and therefore hinted that it will assist the government in form of financial assistance to the sector. The Executive Secretary/CEO Nigerian Shipper’s Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, made this known Thursday in Abuja during a meeting between the Council, Concessionaires for the Inland Dry Ports and the French Embassy. NSC ES, while highlighting the successes so far recorded by the Council stated that the federal government thought it necessary to bring shipping closer to the people by establishing ports in the hinterland. Hassan told the audien...
Bashar al-Assad wins Syria’s presidential election
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won his fourth seven-year term in the 2021 presidential race, the Syrian parliament announced on Thursday. Hamoudeh Sabbagh, the parliament speaker, said that Assad won 95.1 per cent of the vote as opposed to 88.7 per cent in the 2014 election. He said that about 14 million of the estimated 18 million eligible voters inside and outside Syria cast their votes, with a turnout rate of 78.64 per cent. Huge crowds of Assad supporters filled the Umayyad Square, the main square in the Syrian capital of Damascus, to celebrate Assad’s win, waving Syrian flags and posters of Assad, while national music was blaring from loudspeakers. Banners supporting Assad adorned the square and main streets in the capital. Assad’s win was largely anticipated as his competitors ...
Myanmar military tribunal orders 20-year jail terms for torching Chinese-linked factories
A Myanmar military tribunal has sentenced 28 people to 20 years in jail with hard labour for arson attacks on two factories, state media reported, after a string of mainly Chinese-financed factories were torched during unrest in Yangon in March. The army-run Myawady news portal said the offenders had targeted a shoe plant and a garment factory in the industrial Hlaing Tharyar suburb of Myanmar’s biggest city. Martial law was imposed in the suburb after the blazes, with dozens killed or wounded when security forces opened fire on anti-military protesters, media and an activist group said. The Chinese embassy in Myanmar said at the time that many Chinese staff were injured and trapped in the arson attacks and called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens. A total of 32 Chinese-i...
Russia calls U.S. decision to not rejoin Open Skies arms pact ‘a political mistake’
Russia on Friday called a U.S. decision to not rejoin the Open Skies arms control pact, which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries, a political mistake that strikes a sour note ahead of a summit, Russian news agencies reported. The United States told Russia on Thursday it would not rejoin the pact, which Washington left in November, accusing Russia of violating it, something Moscow denied. The original decision to quit the pact was taken by the administration of then U.S. president Donald Trump and Moscow had hoped that Joe Biden would reverse that decision. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, was quoted by the RIA news agency on Friday as saying that Moscow was disappointed but not entirely surprised by Biden’s decision. “It certainly does not make us ha...
PDP congratulates Edwin Clark at 94
The Peoples Democratic Party has congratulated elder statesman and former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, as he marks his 94th birthday. The party’s felicitation was contained in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday in Abuja. Ologbondiyan described Clark as an unrelenting patriot who had remained unshaken in his commitment toward the unity, stability and development of the nation. He said: “Our party salutes Chief Clark for his steadfastness and outspokenness toward the entrenchment of democratic tenets of rule of law, justice, fairness, and equity in the context of true federalism in our country. “Indeed, Chief Clark’s contributions to nation building form a strong pedestal upon which our nation is striving to find solutions to the my...
Constitution review: States creation tops list of submissions at North East public hearing
YouTube States creation topped list of demands by groups from Adamawa and Taraba States at Thursday’s public hearing on the review of 1999 Constitutional in Gombe. Newsmen report that the groups wanted creation of Amana and Gongola out of present Adamawa State and Mambilla out of the present Taraba State. Ahmad Sajoh, the leader of the movement for Amana State, said the struggle for the creation of the state had been on for years. Sajoh said since 1961 when the area was moved into Nigeria from Cameroon, it had been an independent entity and it was the wish of the people to have a state of their own. He said: “The then Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, convinced us to be part of Nigeria on the condition that the area shall be an autonomous province with ...
Ex-President Obasanjo visits Chicks market in Ibadan, promises improved system
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday assured members of the Day Old Chicks Merchant Association of Nigeria (DOCMAN) of improved system and the backing of the government. Obasanjo gave the assurance during his surprise visit to the market, Obasanjo Day Old Chicks Market, located at Oluyole Estate in Ibadan. The former president, who arrived at the market at about 9.20 a.m, was conducted round the congested market by Deacon Sunday Agusa, the General Manager of Obasanjo Farms, Ibadan. Newsmen report that there was massive turnout of traders at the market to welcome the former president amidst pomp and pageant. Obasanjo said that his attention was drawn to the existence of the market by his staff member and the use of his name to grow the market to an international standard on day-ol...
House invites CBN governor on recovered loots
The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the assessment and status of recovered loots has invited the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it. The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Adeogun Adejoro, who extended the invitation on Thursday in Abuja said that it was necessary for the committee to know the number of recovered loots and where they were being kept. The Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed had told the committee that she had no idea of the number of accounts being used to keep the recovered loot. She, however, said that the ministry had a record of what had been recovered and the amount that had come into the account. She stated that N50 billion was provided from recovered loot to fund the 2020 budget, adding that the...
‘Patriots rule Hong Kong’ as sweeping pro-Beijing electoral rules passed
Hong Kong’s legislature approved the biggest overhaul of its political system in the quarter century since British rule on Thursday, in a decisive step to assert Beijing’s authority over the autonomous city. The changes will reduce the proportion of seats in the legislature that are filled by direct elections from half to less than a quarter. A new body will be empowered to vet candidates and bar those deemed insufficiently patriotic towards China from standing. “These 600-or-so pages of the legislation come down to just a few words: patriots ruling Hong Kong,” said Peter Shiu, a pro-Beijing lawmaker. Most of the changes were announced by China in March, though Hong Kong authorities later contributed further details, such as redrawing constituency boundaries and criminalising calls for bal...
