Author: Hamza Rufai

ANOTHER batch of Nigerians stranded in Sudan have arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja from the war-ravaged Sudan. The Tarco Aviation aircraft carrying 126 evacuees, all students from Port Sudan, arrived at 12:25 pm, Thursday. There has not been any record of loss of any Nigerian so far. Upon arrival, the returnees were processed by officials with the filling of the returnee registration forms handed to them by government officials. They were received by officials of NEMA; NIDCOM; the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Nigeria Immigration Service.…

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited needs to roll out massive investments in terms of oil and gas to meet the demand for these commodities, Africa’s richest man and Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said. He said the national oil firm should invest more because there were many off-takers waiting to off-take the products from the company. Dangote spoke at the ongoing 2023 Annual Value Assurance Review Workshop of the Nigeria Upstream Investment Management Services Limited, according to a statement. He explained that a good investment manager would actively seek for investment opportunities, assess them and take shrewd investment…

FIRE has gutted some parts of the Nigerian Air Force Base located along Airport Road in the Federal Capital Territory. The cause of the fire outbreak was yet to be ascertained at the time of filing the report. Operatives of the Federal Fire Service have also made an effort to put out the fire. No official statement yet from the Nigerian Air Force on the incident. More details shortly….

AT least 15 girls have reportedly died in a fresh boat accident at Dandeji village in Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The girls were said to be be on their way to a nearby bush to fetch firewoods when their boat capsized on Tuesday morning. According to eyewitness accounts, over 40 girls were on board when the incident happened. A resident of the area, Muhammad Ibrahim, said 15 corpses had already been recovered and local divers were still searching for the other victims. The chairman of Shagari local government, Aliyu Abubakar, who confirmed the incident said the bodies…

AS the race for the 10th Senate presidency gets ‘tougher’,  72 non-serving senators have endorsed former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, to head the 10th Senate. A former senator representing Kano Central, Basheer Lado, in a press conference in Abuja on Monday,  on behalf of the group expressed support for the zoning of the position of the president of the 10th senate, to the south-south geo-political zone of Nigeria. Address the press, Lado said: We are a group of non-serving Senators of the Second to the Fourth Republics. We have invited you today to announce our position with…

GUNMEN suspected to be bandits stormed the palace of the Emir of Kagarko in southern part of Kaduna State, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, and took away nine of his children, grand children and three others in the town. A resident, who spoke to our reporter, said the gunmen stormed the area around 11:15pm and headed directly to the Emir’s residence. “They took away his youngest wife, nine children and grandchildren but the wife escaped and returned back home,” he said. He said the gunmen also took three other persons, including a lady and injured one Audu Kwakulu of Ungwan Pah who…

ONE hundred and twenty-nine more Nigerians have fled war-torn Sudan as the Federal Government further strengthens its efforts to repatriate stranded Nigerians in the North-African country. News Point Nigeria reports that the returnees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, the nation’s capital on board the Tarco Airlines from Port Sudan, Monday. Upon their arrival at 9:15 am, the returnees were processed by officials with the filling of the returnee registration forms handed to them by government officials. Comprising 124 adults and five infants, they were received by officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigerians in…

PASSENGERS of MaxAir aircraft that departed Yola, Adamawa State to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, had a terrifying experience, yesterday, as the tyre burst into flames during landing. The plane had departed Yola at 14:00p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Abuja at 15: 00 p.m., before the incident. Fortunately, all 143 passengers, one infant, and six crew members on board were safely evacuated with no casualties. It was not clear what caused the tyre to burst into flames, but investigations are ongoing. However, the Aerodrome Rescue and Fire-fighting Service, ARFFS, operatives at the airport were swift to mobilise to…

GOVERNOR Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has dispelled the rumours of him jostling to become Chief of Staff in President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu’s cabinet. News Point Nigeria reports that, El-Rufai stated this in Gombe on Saturday while addressing newsmen. Reports claim that El-Rufai was in the state to inaugurate the construction of 550 housing units and Gombe Geographic Information Systems (GOGIS) Service Centre. He described the reports on the different portfolios being assigned to him and published in national dailies as “mere speculations”. The governor said he was more interested in contributing to the development of Nigeria than jostling for…

ALL is set to receive golden boy, John Ebuka, one of the anchor legs that won a gold medal in  Men’s 4×100m Relay  at the just concluded African Junior Athletics Championship in Zambia. According to a press statement made available to journalists signed by Gombe Athletes Association Media Office on Friday, records have shown that  Ebuka’s feat  was the first time an athlete from the state would bring home such medal. The statement added that, “Gombe wants to appreciate Ebuka and to encourage other Athletes to tour their best  in training and work  hard in future competitions. “Ebuka has made…

THE American University of Nigeria (AUN) has received the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) approval to offer a Master of Science degree in Communication for Social and Behavior Change. The Master’s program, which is developed and will be run in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), begins in the fall (September) semester. AUN also received NUC’s approval to offer a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in a hybrid mode, allowing candidates to take full advantage of AUN’s advanced technological support and learning facilities to further their academic and professional careers. The NUC also approved AUN to roll out M.Sc.…

THE Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a United Nations agency, has disclosed that the global food price index rose in April for the first time in a year. Food prices however are still 19.6 percent down from a record high hit in March 2022. The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) report for last month, published on Friday, shows the April rise reflected higher prices in commodities such as meat, sugar and rice, which balanced the unfavourable declines in the cereals, dairy and vegetable oil price indices. According to the agency, there was an increase in the sugar index owing to…

SOLDIERS have raided Janjala community in Kagarko LGA of Kaduna State and arrested the Madaki or Janjala, Mallam Ibrahim Aliyu, and 13 suspected bandits’ informants in the area. A source, who preferred anonymity, confirmed to our reporter through phone on Wednesday, that troops invaded the community on Tuesday in eight Hilux vans, motorcycles and picked up the suspects. He said the troops stopped at Kagarko town where some suspects were picked up before driving into Janjala community which is about three kilometers away from Kagarko. “The two arrested suspects in Kagarko town led the troops to some houses in Janjala,…

AT least, 350 stranded Nigerians from Sudan have arrived Aswan Airport in Egypt to be airlifted to Nigeria, Daily Trust can authoritatively report. According to a reliable source, they arrived at about 9.30am on Wednesday. “They will be airlifted by NAF C130 and AirPeace. 80 passengers in C130 and Airpeace 274 passengers,” said the source. “Checking in has commenced following normal airport protocols. Boarding is ongoing,” he added. The evacuees are expected to land at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Internationa Airport in Abuja around 4:30pm as Daily Trust checks show that Cairo to Abuja is five hours and a few minutes…

THERE is general relief as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says effective May 1, it will reconnect three Distribution Companies (Discos) earlier disconnected from the National Grid due to non-compliance with market rules. News Point Nigeria reports that KEDCO, Kaduna Disco and APLE Electric were disconnected by the TCN, a situation which left customers in their franchise areas in total darkness for days. But according to a statement by TCN Market Operator, Dr. E. A Eje on Sunday, the suspended and disconnected Discos will be reconnected to the National Grid at the instance of the Minister of Power, Abubakar…

BANDITS have again attacked many communities in the Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State, killing seven people including a fouor-year-old and abducted an unidentified number of people while several others were injured. The incident occurred at about 2pm on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning where gunmen suddenly attacked the villages of Essan, Koitapi, Wuda, Loitapi among others in the area. According to reports, the bandits, who operated for several hours without challenge, carted away cattle, motorcycle, cash, destroyed houses in the affected communities rendering them homeless. It was gathered that the armed men started shooting sporadically to scare the…

THE Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has praised the Nigerian Army for fast-tracking, restoring and enhancing security in communities formerly under the control of Boko Haram insurgents leading to the safe return of inhabitants. Zulum stated this on Friday at the sendforth dinner organised by the 7 Division in honour of the immediate past GOC and Commander Sector 1 Operation Hadin Kai Major General Waidi Shuaibu. The event was held amid intensified efforts by the state government to relocate internally displaced persons (IDPs) to liberated communities across the state. The governor said apart from addressing the root causes…

FOR the second time in a row, Sokoto State came tops in the sub national ease of doing business ranking. The first time was in 2021/2022, when it clinched the second position; while this time it bagged the third position. The awards were received by Hon. Bashir Gidado and Hon. Yusuf Hausawa: the state Commissioners of Sports and Youths Development and his Industry, Trade and Investment Hausawa counterpart: Hon. Bashir Gidado and Hon. Yusuf Hausawa respectively. These milestones, according to Gidado and Hausawa. were possible as a result of the deliberate policies and programmes of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal’s administration…

AMID the crisis rocking Sudan, the Federal Government has said that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) will commence the airlifting of Nigerian evacuees from Egypt on Friday. “The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Peace and other Airlines have received clearance to fly to Egypt. The NAF C-130H is scheduled to leave Abuja tomorrow, 28th April, 2023 to commence the airlifting of the evacuees,” said Amb. Janet Olisa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government also said arrangements are being concluded to airlift all Nigerians that have already escaped on their own to safety in other countries neighbouring Sudan. See…

THE federal government through the National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday suspended the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products by the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. News Point Nigeria reports that, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed disclosed, this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. According to the minister, the NEC concluded in its meeting that it is not a favourable time for the action. She stated that the Council deliberated on the matter and…