Author: Bala Muhammad

FOUR persons have died in Kaduna following the outbreak of acute viral Heamophatric Fever otherwise known as Lassa Fever at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in the state capital. The disease was recorded in the Accident and Emergency unit of the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital (NARHK), Kaduna. The disease had resulted in the death of three medical staff serving in the hospital and a patient, with some in critical condition. Confirming the incident in a statement on Thursday, the Army Headquarters said the three medical staff of the hospital that had direct contact with the suspected index case…

THE Federal Government says it has uncovered 32 routes through which food items are smuggled out of Nigeria. Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing a conference on Public Wealth Management held in Abuja, the nation’s capital. He said on the midnight of Sunday, 45 trucks loaded with maize were intercepted while making their way to neighbouring countries. The Vice President said, “Just three nights ago, 45 trucks of maize were caught being transported to neighbouring countries. Just in that Ilela axis, there are 32 illegal smuggling routes. And the moment those food stuff were intercepted, the…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has arrived back in Abuja from the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Tinubu, who departed Addis Ababa in the morning on Monday, arrived Abuja around 3:40pm in the afternoon. While in Ethiopia, the Nigerian leader actively participated in the 44th Ordinary Session of the Executive council, held bilateral meetings and attended other events on the sidelines on the AU summit. Tinubu joined other African leaders in high-level meetings on institutional reforms of the African Union; peace and security; specific thematic issues such as climate change, as well as modalities of participation and priorities of the…

THE Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, has said the menace of insecurity plaguing a large portion of the North can be put to an end only by implementing state policing, Governor Sani’s statement comes hours after bandits stormed the Gindin Dutse Makyali village of Kufana district in the Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. ”In the last six months or thereabout, I have been insisting that we can only address the issue of insecurity if we establish state policing,” Governor Sani said in a one-on-one chat on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria. ”I am happy…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has arrived in Kaduna State where he will be participating as the special guest of honour for the 6oth anniversary of the Nigerian Defence Academy. The president landed at the Kaduna International Airport at exactly 11:30am, and was received by the state governor, Senator Uba Sani, along with the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas, Senior Kaduna State Government officials and top senior military officers. The president is expected to deliver a speech at the diamond celebration of the NDA holding at Afaka in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. From the airport the President moved to…

THIRTEEN children who were abducted by suspected bandits in the Katari area of Kaduna on January 6, 2024, have spent 23 days in captivity. The bandits reportedly killed a 53-year-old baker, Mr Tijani Amedu, and abducted his 13 relatives, who are mainly children and were travelling alongside him, in the Katari area of the state. The incident happened while the victims were returning to Kaduna after visiting Warri, Delta State. The Edo State-born businessman’s brother, AbdurRasaq, in a chat on Sunday, when asked about the children, told our correspondent, “They are still with the kidnappers.” When asked what the police…

A POLICE Divisional Officer has rejected one million naira bribe offered to him by a suspected notorious bandit after his arrest in a hotel in Kaduna Community. The arrested bandit reportedly offered the bribe out of the ransom recovered from him by the police at a hotel in Tafa community. According to the Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, on Thursday, the arrest was made on the 19th of January, 2024. According to him, the divisional headquarters received credible information regarding the presence of the suspected person st Easyway hotel in Tafa town. He explained that their Operatives…

THE Nigerian Air Force says air strikes undertaken by the air component of Operation WHIRL PUNCH, on Thursday, neutralized a well-known terrorist and kidnap kingpin popularly known as Janari and several members of his syndicate. Janari and his cohorts have been responsible for several attacks and abductions within Kaduna State as well as along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, a statement by the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet on Sunday said. Gabkwet said that the strikes were authourized after Janari and his gang were sighted at a location near Gadar Katako…

THERE was tension in Kidandan Village of Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State as 10 children sustained fatal injury in an explosion. The incident happened Saturday afternoon when the children were said to be playing with an object found in the nearby bush. Sources said the object, believed to be a bomb, exploded suddenly. Pictures of the victims obtained by this newspaper showed them in blood as they were being attended to by some residents. They were later rushed to Shika Hospital in Zaria for treatment. The Village Head, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Ruka, also confirmed the incident, saying he…

A 400-LEVEL student of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi has been arrested for alleged possession of illegal firearms. The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ahmed Wakil. in a statement on Wednesday said the suspect was arrested on Saturday following a tip-off by a vigilante group, saying the student illegally acquired one locally-made gun, one locally-made pistol, and 9mm live ammunition. The suspect had already admitted to the offence and claimed that the weapons belonged to another person previously arrested for possession of a locally made pistol in 2021. Wakil said that a 28-year-old business café operator had…

THE Inspector-General of Police Olukayode Egbetokun, has launched the Special Intervention Squad in the Federal Capital Territory to curb activities of kidnappers and bandits, especially in border towns within the territory. Our correspondent gathered that the squad would be in charge of patroling and securing the communities within the various borders of the FCT, and intervening to curb and mitigate violent attacks in the nation’s capital The Nigeria Police Force had in late 2023 revealed that deployment of 40,000 operatives of the Special Intervention Squad who were undergoing training would begin with Katsina and nine other states including the FCT.…

VICE-PRESIDENT Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent Nigeria at the 2024 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum scheduled to hold in Davos, Switzerland. Stanley Nkwocha, the Vice-President’s spokesman, who announced this in a statement on Sunday, said Nigeria’s number two man would join other political and business leaders across the world at the annual Forum to discuss global socio-economic and development issues. “Top on Vice President Shettima’s agenda, apart from the plenary session, is the launch of the Private Sector Action Plan for African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) at a special session to be co-chaired by him.”…

MRS Saratu Yakubu, the mother of a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has died at the age of 103. Dogara, who announced her death on Friday evening, in a statement said, “It is with utmost gratitude and total submission to the will of God Almighty that we announce the transition to glory of our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, Mama Saratu Yakubu Tukur, which occurred today, Friday, December 22, 2023 at the age of 103 years.” Dogara said he was comforted by the fact that she led a life of total commitment, dedication and service to God and…

THE Executive Chairman of Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency, Malam Salihu S. Abubakar, has called on all Muslims who intend to perform the next Hajj, and those with capability to undertake the 2024 pilgrimage, to register on or before December 31st, 2023. Malam Salihu who made the call during a media briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Kaduna on Wednesday, said the final closure of registration is on December 31st, 2023. The Executive Chairman noted that reminder becomes   necessary because the deadline is a few days away. He reiterated that all intending pilgrims are required to deposit N4.5 million…

THE Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Musa, has assured the public that the report on investigation into the Kaduna bombing will be out very soon and made public. Over a 100 people were confirmed dead in the accidental air strike in the Igabi council area of the North-West state some weeks back with scores injured. In the wake of the incident, President Bola Tinubu ordered a probe into the matter with the CDS saying the outcome of the investigation is expected soon. “Very well. It [report] is going to be made public. The Federal Government is already in charge,…

THE governors of the 19 Northern states have asked the Federal Government to redouble its efforts to tackle the menace of banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other related security challenges bedeviling the region. The governors under the aegis of the Northern Governors Forum also said they are working collectively to ensure that the tragic accidental military airstrike in Tundun Biri, Kaduna State is thoroughly investigated with a view to compensating the victims and taking corrective measures so as to prevent future occurrence. In his opening remarks at the governors meeting in Kaduna on Friday, the chairman of the forum and governor…

THE Defence Headquarters says it has opened an investigation into the December 3 accidental bombing of Tudun Biri community in Kaduna State, which claimed over 100 lives. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, in a telephone interview with this newspaper on Wednesday, said the investigation panel has eight senior officers. This was as the leadership of the Tudun Biri community in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State disowned the claim that the community had filed a N33bn lawsuit against the Federal Government. This newspaper reports that the villagers were said to be celebrating Maulud when…

THE immediate past governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, has approved the appointment of 64 aides across the local governments in his constituency. Tambuwal, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development, announced the appointment of Constituency and Local Government Aides for the Sokoto South Senatorial District in a press statement made available to journalists  on Monday by his media aide, Muhammad Bello. Bello said, “This initiative is part of the Senator’s efforts to empower his constituents and drive the his development agenda.” The newly appointed aides consist of some of his former commissioners and special…

WHEN the Nigerian Navy signed a contract with the Nakura International Ltd, for the supply of 12 units of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, otherwise called UAVs, little did they know that the man behind the company, Alhaji Ahmed Nakura, has a very high passion for excellence and a niche for the pre-eminence of the Nigerian Navy in modern ways of reconnaissance as well as navigation. And indeed yesterday, 8th December 2023, history was made by the Nigerian Navy, as it commissioned the UAVs at the Ojo Naval base Lagos, to the applause of many serving and retired naval officers. In…

THE National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu and senators from northern Nigeria have passed a vote of confidence on the country’s security agencies despite the accidental military drone strike in Tudun Biri village of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. While 85 persons were confirmed dead in the strike and scores were injured in the most recent military mishap, Ribadu and the lawmakers are commending the commitment of security agencies to reducing the security challenges in the region. The NSA who gave the commendation when he visited Tudun Biri village on a fact-finding mission, also assured that the bombing…