Author: Gloria Lamar Johnson

A HUMANITARIAN worker and Executive Director of Concerned Youth Development Initiative (CYDI), Chris Terfa, has been reportedly killed by yet-to-be identified gunmen near Logo 1 axis in Makurdi metropolis, Benue State. The deceased was said to have been gunned down Friday evening by the assailants who allegedly traced him to his office within the Logo 1 vicinity in Makurdi. Terfa’s killers also reportedly shot at the security man on duty while trying to gain access into the office premises. The assassins reportedly covered the deceased’s mouth with a pillow before shooting him. Witnesses said that Terfa was rushed to the…

THE abductors of two students of Kogi State University, Kabba (KSUK) have demanded ₦50m ransom for the release of the students. The students were kidnapped last week Friday at the same spot and same day the Caretaker Chairmen of Kabba/Bunu Council area, Dare Micheal and his three aides were abducted. While the CTC chairman, Dare was released due to ill health that could not allow him to trek quickly with the abductors, the other three aides and the two students are still with the abductors. The kidnappers had on Monday requested ₦100 million as ransom for the chairman’s aides, and…

AT least 30 people have been reportedly killed by unknown gunmen in Ayati community of Ukum Local Government Area of Benúe State. Our correspondent reports that the fresh killings occured barely one month after the killing of 11 residents in the same community which sparked wild protests at the time. Residents said the latest killings occured Thursday night after the local bandits in their numbers launched an attack on Ayati, the headquarters of Borikyo Ward. A resident told our correspondent on the telephone that people killed could be over 50 as efforts were still being made to recover bodies from…

AMIDST the ongoing 24-hour curfew imposed in Jos, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Olugbemiga Adesina, has ordered the deployment of officers to dominate the city. In a statement on Monday, the CP said the move was based on security intelligence which revealed that hoodlums were planning to hijack the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests to cause mayhem in the state. The statement, signed by the command’s spokesman, said, “In line with the 24-hour curfew imposed by the Plateau State Government following the actions of unscrupulous elements amidst the peaceful protest in the state, the Plateau State Police Command has robustly deployed officers…

GENERAL Overseer and President El-buba Outreach Ministries International (EBOMI), Dr Isa El-buba, personally led the August 1st hunger protest in Jos, Plateau state capital, on Thursday. El-buba, who is the national coordinator of Initiative for Better and Brighter Nigeria (IBBN), said the protest led by him would be peaceful all through. The protesters converged on the Plateau Secretariat overhead bridge as early as 6am from where they headed towards old airport roundabout Jos. While addressing the protesters, he highlighted the suffering of Nigerians and asked President Bola Tinubu to reverse “anti-people policies”. Buba specifically mentioned the removal of fuel subsidy,…

A SENIOR advocate of Nigeria and former general secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe, emerged as the president-elect in the 2024 NBA election. The 2024 NBA election was held online and was monitored by our correspondent. The Voting began at 12 am on Saturday and ended at 11.59 pm with the live results for all positions presented at https://go.ecnba.org/results/ As of the final compilation at 12:40 am on Sunday, Osigwe secured 20,435 votes, defeating his closest rival, Chairman of the NBA-Institute of Continuing Legal Education Governing Council, Tobenna Erojikwe, who garnered 10,998 votes while former NBA Lagos Branch…

COLONEL BT Vandi, a retiree of the Nigerian Army, has been found dead at the Defence Academy base camp located at Vom road, Jos. The retired officer was said to have passed on in his room where he checked in a few hours earlier. An attendant reportedly found him dead at about 3:20pm. Late Col Vandi was said to have checked in to the camp guest room on the 16th of July, and was discovered dead on the 17th of July. This newspaper further learnt that the body of the deceased would be moved to 3 Division Military Hospital in…

A PRELIMINARY investigation into the Saint Academy School building collapse in the Busa Buji area of Jos, Plateau State, in North Central Nigeria, has shown that the structure was defective. The two-storey building housing Saint Academy, located at the Busa Buji community in the Jos North Local Government Area of the state, collapsed on Friday at about 8:30 am, claimed 22 persons and left about 154 trapped persons who were evacuated to various hospitals. The Director General of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Samson Duna, at a press briefing on Tuesday in Jos, said there were several…

THE Benin Monarch, Omo N’oba N’edo Uku Akpolokpolo Ewuare II, has received prestigious artefacts from the Stanley Museum of Art, University of IOWA in the United States of America. The objects; one wooden carved mother hen and a brass plaque, were among the thousands of artefacts looted from the palace of the Oba of Benin during the 1897 Benin massacre, which eventually found their way to the Stanley Museum of Art. The curator of African art, Stanley Museum of Art, University of IOWA, Cory Gundlach who returned the two artefacts, admitted the university’s use of the objects in the teaching…

ABOUT 200 students were trapped in the school building which collapsed on Friday morning, according to Plateau Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr Musa Ashoms. This newspaper reports that Saints Academy, a secondary school in Jos, collapsed on Friday, while students were writing their third term examination. Ashoms, who visited the scene in the company of other commissioners, including that of secondary education, said the school had a total population of about 400. The commissioner said part of the school that collapsed was accommodating about 200 students. ”The collapsed building has resulted in casualties, and injured students are still being…

A SECONDARY school building has collapsed in Plateau States killing at least 12 persons and leaving dozens of others injured. Activities at Saints Academy and its immediate environment in Busa Buji, Jos North, were disrupted on Friday morning when the school’s two-story building caved in on students and their teachers. The collapse trapped more than 70 pupils, witnesses said, transforming a peaceful educational environment into a scene of chaos. Panicked and desperate residents quickly descended on the scene to provide help as screams for help rent the air. They were joined by emergency workers to battle the rubble to rescue…

A TOTAL of 1,702 murders, 2,149 kidnappings, and 320 robbery cases were recorded by the Nigeria Police Force across the country in 2023. According to a report released on Friday, July 5, 2024, by Statisense, a data collection organisation, the North Central region had the highest number of reported murder cases, totalling 436 for the year. During the year under review, the North-West recorded 417 murder cases, the North-East had 345, and the South-West recorded 174, ranking them second to fourth, respectively. In the South-East and South-South regions, 169 and 161 murder cases were recorded, respectively. A further breakdown of…

JUSTICE Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has declared invalid the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election that produced Asue Ighodalo as its governorship candidate. The primary election conducted on February 22, 2024, was voided on the ground that 378 delegates who were supposed to vote at the primary election were unlawfully excluded by PDP. Justice Ekwo nullified the primary election while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by the aggrieved delegates. The suit was instituted by one Kelvin Mohammed in a representative capacity. Justice Ekwo held that both the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and…

AMINA Adamu, one of the three housewives abducted along Takum-Katsina-Ala road in Takum local government area of Taraba state four weeks ago, has escaped from the kidnappers’ den. According to a relation of her husband, Mallam Maiwada, Amina escaped while the kidnappers were asleep. He said however two other housewives and daughter of General T.Y.Danjuma’s brother were still in the hands of the kidnappers. It was further gathered that two persons that took ransom for the release of the three housewives were held by the kidnappers. The brother of General T.Y Danjuma, Mr Benjamin, was abducted alongside his wife and…

A TRADITIONAL title holder in Nasarawa State, the Madaki of Shabu, Musa Shuaibu, has been abducted by gunmen. The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, confirmed the abduction to Channels Television. According to him, Shuaibu was abducted on Thursday evening after observing prayers in a Mosque opposite his house in Shabu, a suburb of Lafia, the state capital. He added that efforts are ongoing to rescue the victim and also apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice.

ONE person was allegedly killed with some others injured as over 10 vehicles and a microfinance bank building were burnt at the Bukuru market in the Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State on Monday by hoodlums who confronted Jos Metropolitan Development Board Officials carrying out the enforcement of an Executive Order. The incident occurred when enforcement officers stormed the market to supervise the demolition of illegal structures erected by the roadside, especially within the market vicinity. However, the officers met resistance from hoodlums who emerged from the neighbourhood within the market and confronted the implementation officers, pelting them…

GUNMEN have abducted passengers travelling to Abuja from Enugu State, after attacking the 18-seater bus conveying them in Nasarawa state. The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, disclosed this to Channels Television. Nansel who disclosed that on Friday night, said the police received information that an 18-seater bus conveying passengers from Enugu State to Abuja, was attacked at Doruwa village, Nasarawa-Keffi road and an unspecified number of people abducted. He added that three of the victims were later rescued after the police and other agencies launched an operation in the area. “Police operatives, in collaboration with other security agencies,…

THE Military Taskforce in charge of maintaining peace in Plateau State has declared eleven persons wanted. The Deputy Commander of Operation Safe Haven, Tezungwe Iyua disclosed this during a press conference in Jos on Friday According to him, the persons declared wanted were all males. They include Muhammadu MP, Muhammed MOPOL, Rabiu Ibrahim, Buba Sobe, Senfos Gaine, Nahaska Boderi, Dudi Mohammadu, Habu Mohammadu, Ja’afaru Matakala, Hassan Waje and Sanusi Dafor. Iyua said the suspects were declared wanted in connection with various attacks that left several persons dead and properties destroyed in various parts of the state. The Deputy Commander said,…

A BENUE State High Court has restrained the Benue State Government from probing the administration of the former Governor of the state, Chief Samuel Ortom. This newspaper recalls that the Benue State Government recently set up a commission of inquiry into the funds (income and expenditure) of Benue State Government from May 29, 2015, to May 28, 2023, to probe the immediate past administration of former Governor Ortom in the state. The order stopped the panel from sitting, pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice filed by former Governor Samuel Ortom. Justice T. T. Asua gave the…

TWO female students of the Joseph Sarwuan University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State have been kidnapped by gunmen. The students were said to have been kidnapped late hours of Saturday. The spokesperson for the state command, Catherine Anene, who confirmed the kidnap of two female students to journalists on Wednesday, noted that the female students were kidnapped at about 11 pm on Saturday. She said, “The report we heard was that the incident happened along North Bank/Uniagric Road, Saturday night at about 11 pm. Anene further explained that the suspected kidnappers blocked the road, attacked and took the victims before…