Author: Peter Noah KC

TWO more victims of the train station attack in Igueben, Edo State have been rescued. In a briefing in Benin City, the state’s Commissioner for Communications and Orientation, Chris Nehihkare disclosed that seven suspects, including two traditional rulers, are currently in police custody. Gunmen had attacked passengers waiting to board a train from the Igueben station in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State to Warri, in Delta State on Saturday, January 7 and abducted no fewer than 32 persons. The police had said the abductors, armed with AK 47, invaded the train station and shot sporadically into the air…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in the country from Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, where he attended the third forum of the African Conference for Peace. The helicopter conveying the President from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport arrived at Aso Rock Villa a few minutes before 4 pm. His first foreign trip in 2023, the event saw Buhari honoured by the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum with the ‘Award for Strengthening Peace in Africa’. The President, in his address at the conference, stated that efforts must be intensified towards curtailing and preventing the circulation of small arms and light weapons, and curbing…

RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike has hinted that talks with his political allies in the G5 on the preferred presidential candidate to support in the February 25 election will soon be concluded. Wike spoke on Tuesday during a rally of the Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state. The governor maintained that the people of the state know their political bearings and will not play second fiddle concerning the general election slated for February 25 and March 11 2023. “Now, it is one man, one vote. All the votes must be in…

THE Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu says a presidential run-off is a possibility after voters cast their ballot on February 25, 2023 for their preferred candidates. The electoral chief said INEC is prepared to handle a presidential run-off should in case no winner emerge after next month’s poll for Aso Rock. Yakubu stated this on Tuesday when he discussed the plans of Nigeria’s highest electoral body for the forthcoming general elections at a world-leading policy institute and think-tank forum, Chatham House in the United Kingdom. He said INEC had always prepared for the possibility of…

THE Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has warned the general public and eligible applicants not to pay anyone to get recruitment into the service. NIS in a statement said the recruitment process is free and selection is based on merit. Immigration recently opened its portal for the 2023 recruitment of interested applicants across the country into the civil defence, correctional, fire, and immigration services board departments. The government agency said that it does not take part in any form of cash transaction during the recruitment process. NIS urged the public and applicants to report any of its personnel caught collecting money…

THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest inflation report showed a decline of 0.13% between November and December. “In December 2022, the headline inflation rate eased to 21.34% compared to November 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.47%,” the NBS report partly read. “Looking at the trend, December 2022 inflation rate showed a decline of 0.13% when compared to November 2022 inflation rate. “However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.72% points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2021, which was (15.63%). “This shows that the headline inflation rate increased in the month…

DEPOSIT Money Banks borrowed the sum of N21.87tn from the Central Bank of Nigeria via the Standing Lending Facility window and Repurchase Lending platform in 2020, according to the CBN financial data. This represents a 260 per cent increase when compared to the N5.744tn recorded via the same windows in 2022. It, however, represents a 19.3 per cent decrease when compared to the N27.08tn the banks borrowed from the apex bank in 2021. The apex bank has two short-term lending windows for banks and merchant banks namely-Standing Lending Facility (SLF) and Repurchase (Repo) lending. While the CBN lends money to…

IN the early hours of Sunday, armed bandits stormed the Parish residence of one Rev. Father Isaac Achi of St. Peters and Paul Catholic Church, along Daza road, Kafin-Koro, Paikoro LGA of Niger state. This was confirmed in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer of the state, DSP W. A Abiodun, who narrated that the bandits attempted to gain entrance into the residence at about 3 am, but faced difficulties and eventually resorted to setting the house ablaze, while the said Rev. Father was still in it. News Point Nigeria recalls that Rev. Fr. Isaac Achi was the…

TWELVE more victims from last Saturday’s train station attack in Igueben, Edo State have been rescued by joint security operatives. Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, disclosed this to journalists on Sunday at the Police Cottage Hospital in Benin City, the state capital, where many of the rescued persons are currently recuperating. “We were able to track them and release 12 out of the 14 that were being held hostages unharmed,” the governor stated. “We think it is something worth celebrating and appreciate our members of the security forces for the sacrifice they have put in, the sleepless nights they have…

TODAY is Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Nigeria, an annual event to commemorate the nation’s servicemen and fallen heroes. The event, celebrated on January 15 each year, also honours veterans of World War I and II, as well as the Nigerian Civil War. It is a day set aside for sober reflections on the significance of the armed forces to the country. A combination of photos capturing some of the highlights of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day commemoration in Abuja on January 15, 2022. Channels TV/ Sodiq Adelakun. While the Armed Forces Remembrance Day is celebrated on November 11 every year…

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the House of Representatives seat of Ideato North/South federal constituency of Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere, has confirmed the killing of his uncle during Saturday’s attack on his house by hoodlums in Akokwa, Ideato North local government area of Imo State. Ugochinyere, in an SOS message sent to WhatsApp platforms and sighted by News Point Nigeria, on Saturday afternoon had raised the alarm of an ongoing attack at his country home and called for help. In the message he posted on WhatsApp around 3:15pm, he wrote: “We need help to Akokwa. We are under…

THE Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Seme Police Division in Lagos State, SP Mojeed Salami, slumped and died in his office on Tuesday. Though the actual cause of death was not known, a police source who spoke to our correspondent Friday said the DPO had earlier complained of a minor headache and had gone to a hospital. He said the DPO returned to his office a few hours later and resumed work, but that hours later he called his orderly and complained that he was feeling somehow. The source said, “He asked his orderly to call the Divisional Crime Officer…

TWO more victims of the train attack in the Igueben area of Edo State have been rescued, the state government said Friday. Gunmen abducted about 31 persons in the train station in the Igueben Local Government Area of the state. While a number of them are now free, the Edo State Government said two more kidnaped persons have regained freedom. The state’s Commissioner for Communications and Orientation Chris Nehihkare in a briefing in Benin City, said one of the rescued victims include the President of the Igueben Area Customary Court Precious Aigbonoga. But a policeman DSP Micheal Adams died during…

DANGOTE Cement Plc has graduated no fewer than 40 women in fashion design in Kogi State. Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the skill acquisition program Thursday at Obajana, the Plant Director, of Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana, Mr. JV Gungune, said the skill acquisition scheme was meant to support the government in its job creation efforts. Mr Gungune said even though the job creation scheme aptly fits into the company’s vision and mission, it cannot do it alone, nor can it employ everyone, adding that the skill acquisition program is another way of creating employment for the people of Kogi…

AHEAD of the 2023 general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari has renewed calls to foreign government representatives not to meddle in Nigeria’s internal affairs. The President made this known when he received Letters of Credence from Ambassadors of Switzerland, Sweden, the Republic of Ireland, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Senegal, and the Republic of South Sudan at the State House. President Buhari further stated that Nigeria is working closely with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deal with insecurity in the region and also implement strategies to contain the spate of unconstitutional changes in government in…

THE Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday morning arrested Doyin Okupe at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. Okupe, a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic before he was apprehended by DSS personnel. DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya in a statement said Okupe was intercepted at the instance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Okupe, a former presidential aide, later confirmed his arrest at the Lagos airport and release on his verified Twitter Handle. He said, he has been released by the EFCC, and senior officials of the…

THE Obi-Datti Media Office has cleared the air on the circumstances surrounding the liquidation of Next International (UK) Ltd, one of the companies of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi. For failing to submit its annual accounts, authorities in the United Kingdom, struck off the company largely owned by Obi. The company was reportedly removed from the record in September 2021, following a first and second gazette notice of a “compulsory” strike off of the entity. In the UK, a compulsory strike-off is imposed on a company by creditors or by the Companies House for non-submission of annual accounts or failure…

SOME stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State on Wednesday boycotted the presidential campaign rally held in the state capital. The stakeholders were at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu to welcome the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and disappeared from there. The stakeholders were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyeama; former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; former Governor of the state, Mr Sullivan Chime; and former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Chief Eugene Odo among others. Briefing journalists, Chime said that the stakeholders were at the airport to receive the…

THE Federal Government disbursed about N173.2bn for the equalisation of over 11.6 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, between 2019 and 2022, data obtained from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources on Tuesday showed. PMS price equalisation is done by the Federal Government through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, in which the NMDPRA ensures price uniformity of petroleum products via the reimbursement of marketers for trucking products to filling stations anywhere in Nigeria. A document obtained by our correspondent from the FMPR in Abuja, on the scorecard of the ministry since 2019, showed that…

THE Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has threatened to go on a nationwide strike if the federal government does not meet its demands. The association in a letter to the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire on Monday, and signed by its president, Dr Emeka Innocent Orji, said processes for the strike would commence if the issues are not addressed before its January 2023 National Executive Council (NEC) meeting slated for January 24th to 28th. The letter read in part, “Sir, our January 2023 National Executive Council meeting has been scheduled for January 24th to 28th, 2023, and we can…