Author: Gloria Lamar Johnson

ARMED policemen, on Tuesday, teargassed the 16 Peoples Democratic Party members of the Plateau State House of Assembly who were sacked by the Court of Appeal. The lawmakers had arrived at the Rayfield Old Government House in Jos on Tuesday morning alongside their supporters preparatory to their resumption of plenary when the incident happened. The policemen and other security operatives took over the premises of the Government House and prevented the sacked lawmakers from going into the chambers of the House of Assembly but the lawmakers had vowed not to vacate the premises. Recall, addressing journalists in Jos, the state…

GOVERNOR Caleb Mutfwang has imposed 24-hour curfew on the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, North Central Nigeria with immediate effect following the deteriorating security situation within the area. In a press statement, a spokesperson for the governor, Gyang Bere, said the decision was taken after consultations with relevant security agencies and to avoid breakdown of law and order in the local government area. Bere said citizens, especially Mangu residents, are enjoined to comply with the sit-at-home order while only persons on essential duties are allowed to move within the local government area until further notice. The governor lamented…

SIXTEEN people were killed and four others injured in a road accident that occurred in Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday. The accident which occurred around 11:20 am at Tashar Yari area involved a bus that left Kano en route to Markudi in Benue State. A statement by the Kaduna State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Kabir Nadabo attributed the accident to overspeeding that led to the driver losing control of the steering and ramming into a ditch. He said that an initial investigation of the crash revealed that 20 people were involved,…

TWO persons have been killed, while over 70 houses were set ablaze in a communal clash between two communities in Kogi State. The communities involved in the communal clash are Oturpo-Ojile and Ochi-Ibadan under the Ankpa Local Government Area of the state. Trouble started when some villagers in Ochi-Ibadan allegedly killed a man from Oturpo-Ojile who was returning from Lagos to his village, Oturpo-Ojile. Aggrieved with the death of their son, some youths from Oturpo-Ojile in a reprisal attack went straight to Ochi-Ibadan and allegedly burnt down houses and properties worth millions of naira. The member representing Ankpa I state…

SUSPECTED bandits have killed a 53-year-old baker, Tijjani Ahmadu, and abducted his 13 relatives, who are mainly children, travelling alongside him, in the Katari area of Kaduna State. The Edo State-born businessman’s brother, AbdurRasaq, in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, said the incident happened on January 6, 2024, while the victims were returning to Kaduna after visiting Warri, Delta State. AbdurRasaq said, “They came to visit for the Christmas and New Year holidays. My siblings and their families came to visit. But they got attacked by bandits when they were going back to Kaduna, using two buses.…

GOVERNOR Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has advised Nigerians to take advantage of the newly introduced Students Loan Scheme initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to acquire university education. He said this at the official opening and maiden matriculation of Kogi State University, Kabba, on Tuesday, noting that his vision for the establishment of a University in Kabba had been fulfilled. The governor said he met a state that was in a deplorable situation, but expressed gratitude to God that he would be handing over the state better than he met it. “Today I’m fulfilled. I promised to be part…

THE District Head of Kujama, Mr. Steven Ibrahim, who was kidnapped 64 days ago, has been released and is back with his family. He was kidnapped alongside another person while leaving a reservation centre near Bethel School along the Kaduna-Kujama road in November 2023. The bandits killed the other person who was abducted alongside the district head while in their custody a few days after their abduction and dropped his corpse at a village along Kaduna-Abuja highway. This newspaper gathered from sources close to the district head and the community that he was released a week ago. The District Head,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of a new board and management team for the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC). The President charges the new appointees to consider their appointment as an opportunity to serve the nation and, as such, wholly commit themselves to this important purpose.” See full statement below: STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT TINUBU APPOINTS NEW BOARD OF NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN PILGRIM COMMISSION President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of the following nine (9) qualified Nigerians to serve on the board of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC): 1. Colonel Aloche Adole — Chairman 2. Dr.…

KOGI state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has appointed caretaker chairmen to oversee the affairs of the third tier of government in the state with immediate effect. Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mohammed Onogwu, disclosed this in a statement late Monday. He said the governor’s action was “in accordance with the Re-enacted Law of the Kogi State, outlining the establishment, composition, structure, finance, and functions of the local government areas, 2023”. “The governor’s action is aimed at efficiently filling the void left by the former local government chairmen who have recently completed their commendable tenure of office.” “These caretaker chairmen,…

THE Kogi State Government has announced the appointment of Alhaji Ahmed Anaje, who until now is the Ohi of Okenwen, as the new Ohinoyi of Ebiraland The governor also deposed four traditional rulers, including a first-class traditional ruler, the Ohimege Igu, Konto-Nkarfe, and Alhaji Abdulrazaq Koto. Koto was subsequently banished to Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State. The state governor, Alhaji Yayaha Bello, also appointed Alhaji Salihu Seidu, popularly known as SAS, to replace the deposed Ohimege. “He is to be turbaned immediately to avoid vacuum,” Bello said. The governor’s address on the appointments delivered shortly after a meeting…

THE Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate in the Benue governorship election, Titus Uba. The apex court also affirmed the election of the priest-turned-politician. The apex court decision followed the withdrawal of an appeal by counsel for Titus Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sebastian Hon. Uba had challenged the victory of Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC). However, the Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, Abuja, affirmed Alia’s election as Benue governor, following his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of…

LICENSING and control of all inland waterways spanning more than 10,000 kilometres in the country has been restored to National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in a ruling by the Supreme Court on Friday,  January 5, 2024. By this judgement, Lagos State and some littoral states are to abide by the judgement. Before now, there had been a protracted legal tussle between the Federal Government and Lagos  State Government over which of them controls waterways in Lagos with huge economic potential. However, the latest judgement has empowered NIWA to control, regulate  and sanitise boat operators and dredgers in all the nation’s…

THE Nigeria Police Force has arrested a fake doctor, Igwe Gift Okechukwu, involved in criminal conspiracy, organ trafficking, fraud, cybercrime, stealing, impersonation, cheating, and identity theft. The arrest was made in Nasarawa State by operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation Department following the suspect’s fraudulent activities in Owerri, Imo State. The suspect, parading himself as Henry Ovie, a neurologist newly transferred to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, tricked a point of sale (POS) operator, Anita Chinwe Mathias, into entering a code on her POS machine. As a result, the entire sum of twenty-one million naira (N21,000,000) was withdrawn from…

PROTESTING women on Friday afternoon burned down the house of the District Head of Bokkos town in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau state, Michal Monday Adanchi. According to a source from the area, the incident occurred around 12:30am. The source said the women burned the house following the arrest of some members of the community for their alleged involvement in the recent killings in the area, adding that the traditional ruler’s residence and his administrative office were burned down. “The incident began at the police station where they expressed their anger over the arrest of some members of the…

THE Chief Imam of Jumma’at Mosque of Ndun village of Tangur District of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, Malam Muhammad Sani Idris, as well as an okada rider, Muhammad Gambo, have been killed. The Chairman of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association (GAFDAN), Garba Abdullahi, who confirmed the incident to this newspaper on Wednesday said, a younger brother of the slain Imam, Salisu Muhammad Sani Idris, was injured during the attack and was receiving treatment at Dung Hospital in Bokkos town. The chairman said the incident had been reported to the security agencies in Bokkos for immediate actions. Our…

THE Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Umar Nadada, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigative Department in Lafia to commence an investigation into the attack on a supermarket in One Man Village, near Mararaba, in the Karu Local Government Area of the state. About four armed men reportedly attacked the supermarket and killed four customers. The incident was said to have happened around 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday. In the video obtained by our correspondent immediately after the incident, a voice was heard saying that one of the deceased individuals possessed an identity card…

THE Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has declared a one-week of mourning over the recent attacks in the North-Central State. About 200 persons were killed and scores wounded in separate attacks in the state in the last two weeks. While declaring the one-week mourning period, Governor Mutfwang told residents of the state that flags will be flying at half-mast during the time. “As a mark of honour for the memory of the deceased, I wish to declare a week of mourning from January 1st to January 8th, 2024. During this period of mourning, flags will fly at half-mast,” he said…

GUNMEN have kidnapped the Chairman of Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Safiyanu Isa Andaha. News Point Nigeria gathered that the victim was whisked away on Monday night at Ningo village along Andaha – Akwanga Road, alongside a native of the area, police authorities said. According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, security personnel comprising the police and other agencies have swiftly begun the trail of the abductors to ensure the release of the victims. More details later…

TWO persons were killed in another attack by assailants in Durbi village of Shere district, Jos East local government area. The attack is coming when the state is yet to recover from the death of over one hundred ninety persons in the Christmas Eve attacks on Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi local government areas of the state. Transition Implementation Committee chairman Markus Nyam confirmed this on Sunday revealing that the attackers invaded the village on Saturday night and killed a father and his son. Nyam also said that the efforts of the vigilantes in the community who engaged the assailants resulted in…

LESS than 48 hours after their abduction, the 21 persons kidnapped along the Ajaokuta-Itobe Road in Kogi State on Thursday have been rescued. They were rescued by a team of security operatives, comprising personnel of the Nigerian Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and local vigilantes. A statement issued on Saturday by the state governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Onogwu Mohammed, indicated that the victims, mostly travellers, were taken an unknown destination within the dense forest around the Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State. He said, “Upon receiving report of this distressing incident, Yahaya Bello, CON, the Governor…