THE Federal Government has hailed the Super Eagles over their victory against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 semi-final holding in Ivory Coast. The match finished 1-1 after extra time and the three-time champions will face hosts Ivory Coast or the Democratic Republic of Congo in the final on Sunday. Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho scored to give Nigeria a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over South Africa on Wednesday after an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final thriller in Bouake. Shortly after the match ended, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, described the Super…
Author: Hamza Rufai
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THE Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday struck out a N22.8 billion fraud charge against former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall, Adesola Amosu, and two other Air Force Chiefs. Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke set the military officers free while delivering rulings on their separate preliminary objections challenging the court’s jurisdiction to try them for the alleged crime. The court held that Amosu and his co-defendants, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Bola Adigun and Air Commodore Gbadebo Owodunni Olugbenga, could not be tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because they were serving military officers at the time the…
THE first civilian governor of Yobe State Bukar Abba Ibrahim has died while receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni confirmed the death of the former Senator representing Yobe East district. A statement via Buni’s Director General of Press and Media Affairs Mamman Mohammed noted that the former governor died on Sunday and would be buried in Saudi Arabia. He said condolences are to be received by Governor Mai Mala Buni at Government House in Damaturu. Abba Ibrahim a renowned politician who died at 75 is the husband of a serving lawmaker Khadija Bukar Abba…
BANDITS who collected N8.5 million before releasing four among 17 people, including a nurse at Kawu in Bwari area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have again demanded two brand new Bajaj motorcycles for the release of the remaining 11 victims in captivity. This newspaper had reported how the bandits invaded Kawu community on December 26, 2023, and abducted 23 persons. Four among them had escaped, leaving behind 17 others in captivity. The bandits were said to have threatened to kill the remaining 11 over delayed ransom. Speaking with our reporter on Friday, a family member of one of…
THE Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, has ordered restriction of all forms of vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of transportation from 12 am to 6 pm in 26 states holding bye-elections on Saturday. This is with the exclusion of those on essential duties such as officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, election observers, accredited journalists, ambulances responding to medical emergencies, and firefighters among others. The affected states are Ebonyi, Yobe, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Taraba, Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau and Akwa Ibom. Others are Anambra, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Katsina, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Kano, Nasarawa,…
THE Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris Malagi is calling on Nigerians to be patient with the reforms of the Bola Tinubu government. Tinubu, who came into office in May, initiated a string of reforms including the floating of the naira and the removal of the much-debated fuel subsidies. The moves have triggered a spike in the cost of living with inflation soaring. But Malagi believes these are bound to happen, maintaining that in the long run, these reforms would yield fruit. “I want you to remember that the President is seven months old in office. I am…
AMID its fresh moves to stabilise the nation’s volatile exchange rate, the Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered Deposit Money Banks to sell their excess dollar stock latest February 1, 2024. The CBN, which made the disclosure in a new circular released on Wednesday, also warned lenders against hoarding excess foreign currencies for profit. According to officials, the central bank believes some commercial banks hold long-term foreign exchange positions to enable them profit from the volatile movements of exchange rates. The new circular introduces a set of guidelines aimed at reducing the risks associated with these practices. In the circular…
BUREAU De Change (BDC) operators have announced shut down of operation in Abuja as a result of unavailability of dollars. Chairman of the Association, Mallam Abdulahi Dauran, announced this in the nation’s capital, on Wednesday. He attributed the development to online business transaction and cryptocurrency. Daurau said the closure of business would take effect from Thursday, February 1, 2024. The development comes hours after a senate panel summoned Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), over forex crisis. More details shortly…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu, on Monday, commiserated with Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), over the death of his younger sister, Salamatu Asabe. “General, please accept my sympathy and condolences,” Tinubu said in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled, ‘President Tinubu condoles with General Abdulsalami Abubakar over sister’s passing.’ According to Ngelale, “It is with a heavy heart that President Bola Tinubu receives the news of the passing of Hajiya Salamatu Asabe, the younger sister of former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd).” Tinubu who condoled with General Abubakar,…
OPERATIVES of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command have rescued five abductees from two different gangs of kidnappers in Abuja. The five victims were rescued by a combined team of the FCT Special Intervention Squad and the FCT Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit. The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, made the development known on Monday, during a press conference with crime reporters at the Command Headquarters. SP Adeh said, “Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I am honoured to welcome you all to the FCT Police Command today and to equally give you an update on the rescue of…
OPERATIVES of the Nigerian Police Force have arrested a suspected kidnapper believed to be involved in the abduction and murder of Nabeeha, daughter of a Bwari lawyer. Recall that about 19 abductees were taken away by bandits from the Sagwari Estate Layout in the Dutsen-Alhaji area in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory. The kidnappers were demanding N700m ransom for nine of their victims. The kidnappers had killed four of the hostages, including Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, a 400-level student of Biological Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and 13-year-old Folashade Ariyo. Nabeeha was abducted alongside six other siblings. The…
OPERATIVES of the Special Intervention Squad, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, have neutralised three notorious bandits in a forest within the Bwari area of Abuja. The bandits were killed in the early hours of Friday, January 26, at about 2 am, in a forest linking Abuja to Kaduna State. Amongst the three bandits killed was their gang leader, Mai Gemu popularly known as Godara, who, alongside his gang members have been terrorising the FCT and neighbouring states. The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, revealed the development in Abuja on Friday during the parade of about 20 criminal suspects arrested…
THE Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Zacch Adedeji is calling on Nigerians to be patient with the Bola Tinubu’s administration and maintained that the new government won’t overtax the citizens. Inaugurated May last year, the Tinubu government is fighting insecurity, a battered economy compounded by inflation, and the removal of fuel subsidy among other issues. But Adedeji, who was sharing insights into the operations of the FIRS and the concerns over taxation in the country, asked Nigerians to be patient with Tinubu’s government in its quest to better the lives of citizens. “We understand that it is…
WORRIED by the recent killings in Plateau State, the House of Representatives will hold a security summit. At least 30 people have been killed in renewed violence in the North-Central Plateau State, where clashes between Muslim herders and Christian farming communities have erupted for years. The senseless killings and burning of houses have continued in Mangu town of Mangu Local Government area of Plateau State despite the 24-hour curfew imposed by the government. Reacting to the violence, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, condemned the recurring attacks in the state in the strongest terms. Tajudeen, according to…
JUSTICE Bolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court Abuja has ordered that the five Port Harcourt-based men arraigned by the Federal Government on terrorism charges be remanded at Kuje Correctional Centre. They are to remain in prison custody till February 2 when their respective bail applications will be determined by the Judge. The five defendants are Chime Eguma Ezebalike, Prince Lukman Oladele, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Osiga Donald and Ochueja Thankgod. In the seven counts, the defendants were accused of committing alleged terrorism offences by invading, vandalizing and burning down the Rivers State House of Assembly, during the wake of a…
THE Federal Government has assured Nigerians that those found culpable in circumstances leading to the tragic Ibadan explosion will face the full weight of the law. Speaking while visiting the scene of the blast for an on-the-spot assessment in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who led the Federal Government delegation, expressed shock at the scale of devastation and unfortunate loss of lives, stressing that the disaster is man-made and regrettable. Briefing the Minister on the state government’s rescue efforts, head of the state’s disaster management team, Prof. Tope Alonge noted that…
THE Federal Government says it will develop an app for applications into the student loan scheme. This is according to the Executive Secretary of the Student Loan Scheme Board Akintunde Sawyer who spoke on Monday after the board met with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja. Sawyer said the move is to ensure zero human intervention in the scheme which is expected to start this year. The development came months after Tinubu said the scheme would commence in January 2024. “By January 2024, the new student loan must commence. To the future of our children and students, we are saying no…
THE Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Dr Ahmed Audi, says the agency has averted over 48 attack attempts on schools nationwide by bandits. He said the newly implemented security strategies of the NSCDC would see a drastic reduction in the cases of school attacks by bandits. This newspaper reports that bandits have on many occasions attacked schools, especially in the north, and abducted students. Bandits, on September 20, 2023, abducted 24 female students of the Federal University Gusau in Zamfara State. In April 2014, Boko Haram insurgents attacked the Government Secondary in Chibok, Borno State and abducted 276…
SEVEN residents abducted from Sagwari Estate in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been released. This newspaper had reported how gunmen raided the estate opposite Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) Dutse, around 8 pm penultimate Sunday and abducted 10 residents. Their abductors had given a deadline for the payment of ransom, and failure of the family to meet their demand led to the killing of Nabeeha. The captives murdered were Talatu Salihu, a 500 level student of Library and Information Science, Bayero University Kano (BUK), a staff member of a hotel on the state; Akpagher Joseph…
THE Nigeria Police Force, on Saturday, paraded a notorious Abuja kidnapper, Chinaza Philip-Okoye on a stretcher at the Force Intelligence Response Team base, Guzape, Federal Capital Territory. Our correspondent gathered that the suspect sustained serious injuries after he was shot by police officers following the interception of his gang at a filling station on Thursday night. Philip-Okoye was arrested by a combined team of FCT and Kaduna police officers in Kaduna on Thursday when the police swooped in on him and his gang members (now at large), while they were taking a victim, Segun Akinyemi, from Abuja to Kano State.…