Author: Hamza Rufai

AT LEAST nine of the remaining abducted students of the Federal University, Gusau in Zamfara State have reportedly regained freedom. Multiple sources from the institution confirmed the development to this newspaper on Sunday. No fewer than 21 students, mostly females, were abducted from their hostels after armed men invaded an off-campus residence in Sabon Gida Village of the state, on September 23, 2023. Three labourers, all males, registered with GUPRAN Engineering Services Ltd, were also abducted along with the students. However, the troops of the Nigerian Army rescued 13 of the victims and the labourers less than 72 hours after…

NIGERIA’s headline inflation has moved to 31.70 percent in February, according to the latest data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The NBS released the figure on Friday afternoon with the latest data a rise from the 29.90 percent recorded in January 2024. According to the NBS Consumer Price Index and Inflation Report for February, the hike represents a 1.80 percent increase from what was recorded in January. “In February 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 31.70% relative to the January 2024 headline inflation rate which was 29.90%,” the report read partly. “Looking at the movement, the February…

MILLIONS of internet users groan as disruption continues in various countries across Africa. Outages have been reported in countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana and Burkina Faso. In Nigeria, telecommunications subscribers and bank users were stranded for hours as the disruption paralysed digital transations and internet communications. Damage to at least three subsea cables off the West Coast of Africa on Thursday disrupted internet services in Nigeria, Ghana and other countries across the continent. “There seems to be a pattern in the timing of the disruptions, impacting from the north to the south of Africa,” said Cloudflare…

THE House of Representatives is set to invite top manufacturers Aliko Dangote, Rabiu Abdulsamad, among others, to appear before them for deliberation on ways out of the hardship arising from the high cost of the product. The House resolution was a sequel to the adoption of a motion titled “Arbitrary increase in the price of cement by manufacturers of cement in Nigeria,” moved by a member representing Karu/Keffi/Kokona Federal Constituency, Nasarawa State, Mr Gaza Gbefwi, during plenary on Wednesday and a member representing Shomolu Federal Constituency, Lagos State, Ademorin Kuye. Leading the debate at a session presided over by the…

TROOPS of the Joint Task Force Operation Hadarin Daji (OPHD) have rescued 10 abducted victims in Tsafe town, Tsafe LGA of Zamfara State following a successful disbandment of their hideout. Information Officer Operation Hadarin Daji in Zamfara, Lieutenant Suleiman Omale, said in a statement on Wednesday, that the troops displayed remarkable valour and dedication during the operation, resulting in the dispersion of the bandits. While describing the operations that led to the freedom of the abductees, Omale said the OPHD team had responded to a distress call on the night of March 12, 2024, and had engaged the bandits in…

THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested the Correctional officer who allegedly killed a convict, which led to civil unrest in the Wuse Market area of the city. The command disclosed this in a statement, signed by its spokesperson, Josephine Addeh. This newspaper reported how a trigger-happy correctional service officer shot Ibrahim Yahaya, 27, convicted at a mobile court that sits every Tuesday in Wuse Market. The convict, in an attempt to escape, jumped off the moving vehicle, and “two armed corrections personnel who were in the vehicle went after him and in the process, shot him.” The…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu joined the Muslim faithful at the State House mosque for the Ramadan Tafsir (explanation of the Holy Qur’an) on Tuesday, appealing to Nigerians to pray for peace and stability in the country. Declaring open the annual Tafsir, President Tinubu advised the Muslim faithful to demonstrate kindness to one another and their neighbours while also supporting the less privileged in society. ”We thank Almighty Allah for sparing us to see another holy month of Ramadan. We thank Allah for sparing us through the elections and giving us the opportunity to be Nigerians. ”Yes, things are tough, but Allah…

SENATORS from the 19 Northern States and the FCT, under the aegis of Northern Senators Forum (NSF), have dissociated themselves from the comments made by Senator Abdul Ningi on the 2024 budget. Ningi had in a recent interview claimed that the Federal Government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget, a claim the Presidency denied on Sunday. In a statement on Monday, the NSF declared that Ningi who happens to be the chairman of the forum, was on his own in the claims he made on the 2024 budget. The forum stated that Ningi expressed “his personal opinion, sentiment…

THE Senate on Monday, inaugurated an Ad-Hoc Committee to investigate the Ways and Means, including the Anchor Borrowers Programme by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the last administration of Muhammadu Buhari. President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio led other senators to the inauguration, the move comes after a decision by the Red Chamber to probe details of the programmes based on monies given to state governments, manufacturers, aviation, banks, excess funding in the power sector, amongst others which raised the current debt profile of the country. This was part of resolutions of the Senate after a debate over…

THE Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has appealed to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to as matter of urgency consider the reopening of  the county’s borders for importation of food stuff  to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian masses. The appeal was contained in a statement issued by the Governor’s Spokesperson Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa shortly after receiving the Controller General of the Nigerian Customs Service  Alhaji Bashir Adewale Adeniyi at Government House in Kano. Gov. Yusuf lamented the critical condition of hunger and starvation in the country which was caused  by the rampant hike in the price…

THE crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the Holy month of Ramadan, has been sighted in Saudi Arabia. The moon was reportedly spotted on Sunday evening, meaning March 10 is the last day of the month of Sha’ban and the holy month will begin on Monday, March 11. Ramadan, determined by the lunar Islamic calendar in which months span either 29 or 30 days, commences and concludes based on the sighting of the crescent moon. Saudi Arabia authorities had earlier called on Muslims to sight the crescent of the holy month of Ramadan. The Supreme Court had called on…

OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two grandfathers over drug trafficking. The suspects – Mallam Mai Gemu Adam and Yamama Musa, were arrested in Borno State on Saturday, March 9. Confirming this in a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman, said 32,000 ampoules of tramadol injection were recovered from them. “NDLEA operatives in Borno state have arrested a 70-year-old grandfather, Mallam Mai Gemu Adam and 65-year-old Yamama Musa for drug trafficking. They were arrested on Saturday 9th March along with 24-year-old Abubakar Ya’u and Babagana Abubakar Ali, 28, in Maiduguri and Gamboru-Ngala respectively while 32,000 ampoules…

THE Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has said that President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigerian Customs Service to return all seized grains to their owners for onward retailing in the Nigerian markets. The CGC disclosed this during a stakeholder meeting at Kwangwalam, a border town in the Maiadua Local Government Area of Katsina State on Saturday. He said the directive was given by the president in his magnanimous gesture of ensuring that people of the country have enough food to buy at cheaper prices from the markets. He said, however, the return of the confiscated food items…

THE Department of State Services (DSS), on Friday, cautioned Nigerians across the country to avoid crowded places or suspicious locations to avoid “potential threats” that may come out from Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs). The secret police, in its message to both Christian and Muslim faithful to felicitate with them at their Lent and coming Ramadan seasons respectively, said the advice became imperative in order to live in a peaceful environment. Peter Afunanya, the spokesman of the secret police, also cautioned clerics from both religions, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to refrain from economic exploitation, sabotage or profiteering during these important…

THE House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has issued a one-week deadline to all private airline operators in the country to account for the sum of N4bn given to them by the Federal Government to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic or refund same in the absence of justifiable evidence of how the amount was spent. The committee, chaired by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Osun State, Bamidele Salam, issued the ultimatum on Friday at the resumed investigative hearing into the alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 intervention funds by ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government. This newspaper…

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has debunked reports circulating in some quarters that its warehouse was looted by some hoodlums in Abuja on Sunday. NEMA spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, in a statement on Sunday, confirmed that the looted warehouse is not affiliated with the agency, but sympathised with the owners of the looted facility. On Sunday, some residents of Abuja raided a warehouse belonging to the Federal Capital Territory’s Department of Agriculture, looting foodstuffs and other items stored in the facility. The FCT Agric secretariat’s Public Relations Officer, Zakari Aliyu, confirmed to Channels Television via text message that the looted…

THE Federal Government has paid $120m out of the $1.3bn indebtedness to gas companies for the supply of gas to run gas-fired power plants across the country. Nigeria is currently suffering from low power supply because many gas suppliers have reduced, while others stopped supplying the commodity to power-generating companies due to the indebtedness of the Gencos to gas-producing firms. The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, recently revealed that the crash in power generation and attendant poor supply since January was because gas suppliers stopped supplying gas for the generation of electricity due to the indebtedness of the sector…

THE Senate has summoned the Minister of Federal Capital Territory and the Commissioner of Police in the FCT to brief the senate in a closed door session. The briefing will be on security in the FCT against the backdrop of the recent Galadima kidnap incident. The Senate announced the resolution after a motion moved by Senator Ned Nwoko, representing Delta North on the need to urgently enhance security measures in the FCT during plenary on Wednesday. Among other resolutions taken by the Senate include calls on the Inspector-General of Police to urgently increase security patrols and surveillance within Abuja and…

TWENTY students have died in three boarding girls’ secondary schools and the Federal Government Girls’ College in Potiskum and Fika local government areas of Yobe State from a suspected outbreak of meningitis.  The Yobe State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education Mohammed Sani-Idris told journalists that “20 students have been confirmed dead in the last few weeks from the suspected meningitis outbreak across some boarding secondary schools in Potiskum and Fika local government areas. Many have been hospitalized but now discharged”. He explained that after the outbreak at the secondary schools, “I as Commissioner, my Permanent secretary and the Executive Secretary…

THE Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, says himself and his team are not responsible for the current economic woes in the country. He stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the apex bank, the first since he assumed office in September 2023. The apex bank boss, however, said the CBN is taking the necessary steps to get the country’s fiscal and monetary health back to normal. Nigeria is battling rising inflation, food inflation, forex crisis, economic hardship and high cost of living occasioned by the removal of petrol…