Villages
Southeast Asian leaders discuss Myanmar crisis with junta chief
Southeast Asian leaders began a crisis meeting on Myanmar on Saturday aiming to persuade Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover that sparked turmoil in his country, to forge a path to end the violence. The gathering of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand. Myanmar is part of the 10-nation ASEAN. With participants attending in person despite the pandemic, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that the summit reflected the “deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN’s determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation”. It’s unusual for the leader o...
Ten killed in inter-communal violence amid protests in eastern Congo
Ten people have been killed and 34 injured in fighting between rival ethnic communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma, a spokesman for the provincial government said on Tuesday. The clashes broke out when protests against the U.N.’s MONUSCO peacekeeping mission, which some blame for failing to end to worsening insecurity and militia attacks, descended into violence between the two communities. Attacks by armed militias and inter-communal violence in Congo’s restive eastern region have killed over 300 people since the start of the year as government troops and U.N. peacekeepers struggle to bring stability in the mineral-rich region. The governor of North Kivu province, Carly Nzanzu Kasivita, banned all public protests from Monday and called for calm. “From now o...
Troops eliminate terrorists on looting spree, burst Boko Haram tax collectors
The Nigerian troops on the evening of Monday, 22 March, ambushed and killed scores of Boko Haram/ISWAP elements who were reportedly on looting spree at Magumeri axis of Borno State. This is coming as troops from another sector bursted Boko Haram elements who were collecting taxes and levies from Villagers and herdsmen in Geidam area of Yobe State. Sources told PRNigeria that following a tip off, troops led by Lt Col Ibrahim Bunu, sighted scores of terrorists around 5pm on about 10 motorcycles heading towards Ngowala ward in Magumeri Local Government Area, laid ambush and eliminated them. The troops who were accompanied by civilian joint task force members, captured sophisticated weapons from the neutralized terrorists including AK 47 Rifles, Barreta assault rifles, hand grenade and Bandoli...
WTO chief: ‘Safe Schools Initiative’ to stop abduction of students
The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Wednesday expressed hope that the ‘Safe Schools Initiative’ will help stop the incessant abduction of students across Nigeria. Nigerian women on Wednesday came out en masse to welcome Okonjo-Iweala in her first homecoming since she became the director-general of WTO, during a visit to the Ministry of Women Affairs in Abuja. Addressing the crowd which included Senators and members of the National Assembly, former Ministers, wives of former governors, women in the Armed Forces, women societies, female political aspirants, Civil Society Organisations, as well as students, Okonjo-Iweala expressed deep concern about the incessant abduction of girls and boys in schools. The WTO boss who noted that it is shamef...
Nigerian monarchs demand roles in constitutional review
The National Traditional Council of Nigeria has called on the National Assembly Joint Committee on the review of the 1999 constitution to ensure a constitutional provision is made with a view to creating roles for traditional rulers in matters involving religion, culture, security, justice and other ancillary matters. The council also accused the regimes of Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo of relegating the traditional institution to the background with no constitutional role. The Chairman of the council and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, said late Gen. Ironsi’s 1966 Unitary Government Decree, Gen. Gowon’s and Gen. Obasanjo’s 1967 and 1976 Local Government Reforms Decrees respectively, stripped traditional rulers of their powers an...
Sokoto villages deserted as bandits kill residents
Suspected bandits have raided some communities in the eastern part of Sokoto state, killing four persons and rustled several livestock. Colonel Garba Moyi (rtd), the state Commissioner for Carrier and Security Matters, confirmed the attacks, saying three persons were killed at Bargaja village in Isa local government area while one was killed in a community under Sabon Birni local government. Newsmen learnt that the attackers invaded Bargaja around 2pm on Thursday, shooting sporadically. A resident said six persons were shot in the village, but only three died while the remaining three are currently receiving treatment in the hospitals. A resident of Isa who identified himself as Surajo, told newsmen that inhabitants of Bargaja, Tozai, Turba and Danzanke have all relocated to Isa town follo...
NSA, Northwest governors to meet in Kaduna over rising insecurity
The National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (Retd) and all the seven governors from the North-West region of the country have scheduled a town-hall meeting for Monday in order to address growing insecurity in the region. It was gathered that the meeting, which will hold in Kaduna, was convened on the heels of recent disagreements among some of the governors which border on whether to give amnesty to bandits or not. Newsmen report that Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai said that his administration was at war with bandits and so cannot negotiate with them. The governor, in an interview with BBC Hausa radio as monitored on Monday, also ruled out the issue of forgiveness and compensation for bandits being advocated by the state based Islamic Scholar, Dr Ahmad Gumi. But Kano S...
Anambra election: We shall move our members to the polling booth – PFN chair
File Photo Ahead of the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State, the Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in the state, Bishop Moses Ezedebego, has declared that as part of efforts being made by PFN to make meaningful contributions to the development, peace and progress of the state, all eligible voters that worship in pentecostal churches across the 326 wards in the State would be at the polling booth to participate in electing the next governor of the State. Bishop Ezedebego made the declaration while addressing a press conference in respect of a 3-day camp meeting involving Christians leaders from across Nigeria and beyond organized by Maximum Impact Leadership Development Centre with a view to addressing the challenges facing Nigeria particularly poor leade...
Insecurity: Nigerian governemtn to hold nationwide town hall meetings
In view of the security challenges confronting the nation, the Federal Government is set to convene town hall meetings in the six geo-political zones. Government is expected to confer with state chief executives, religious leaders, women and youth groups in a bid to find lasting solutions to the spiralling, multiple security threats in the country. A statement issued by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said the move was in furtherance of Federal Government’s commitment to address multiple security threats facing Nigeria. It said the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd) convened a meeting of the General Security Appraisal Committee (GSAC) on 11th February, 2021. The meeting, which was attended by the service chiefs and heads of law enforcem...
Archbishop Sam Zuga: CBN lacks power to stop cryptocurrency
Archbishop Sam Zuga has reacted to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new order on Cryptocurrency. The Apex bank had directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions to close accounts of persons who are using their systems for cryptocurrency trading. Reacting to the shocking news, Archbishop Sam Zuga, the CEO of one of Africa’s fastest growing currency, Zugacoin expressed his disappointments at the CBN’s decision, while allaying the fears of Zugacoin investors and intending buyers. According to the Cleric’s message obtained from his social media page, “Cryptocurrency doesn’t need bank account to operate or exist.” He wrote, ”RICH PEOPLE WANT THE POOR TO REMAIN POOR. NOT AGAIN! This is is not news. It has been like this since the beginning of Cryptocurrency. But right n...
Anambra election: PDP orders members to withdraw all litigations against party
File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked its members in court against the leadership of the party in Anambra to withdraw all litigations ahead of the November governorship poll in the state. The South-East National Vice Chairman of the party, Chief Ali Odefa, made the request in Awka during a meeting of the Zonal Working Committee with stakeholders in the state on Monday. Odefa said that it was in the overriding interest of the party for peace and unity to reign ahead of the poll. According to him, the party needs unity and cannot afford any court distractions, if it must form the next government in Anambra. He, therefore, urged the aggrieved party members to direct their complaints to the zonal leadership for amicable and dispassionate resolution. Odefa, who expressed satis...
Why we shutdown Total E&P gas plant – Rivers community
Obite indigenes in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State have an advanced reason for shutting down a gas plant operated by Total Exploration and Producing Nigeria Limited in their domain citing alleged insensitivity of the oil multinational to their plight. The aggrieved natives, drawn from the five villages of Obite community also lamented the alleged refusal of the oil firm to honour a Supreme Court judgement that compensation is paid to the community for the land acquired in the area for its operations. Mr Daniel Clifford Uma, one of the natives, who spoke during the community protest march to the oil firm said, “What you are seeing here today is as a result of total negligence from Total E and P. This thing started 22 years ago. Some of the people that started this ma...
