Author: Gloria Lamar Johnson

THE Plateau State Government has faulted the failure of the soldiers of the Nigerian Army to arrest the killers of 27 farmers in the Tahoss community of the Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State on Monday. The state government blamed the military for the failure to arrest or neutralise any of the suspected gunmen despite establishing contact with them during the attack. “The checkpoint is barely 200 meters from where this incident happened,” the state’s Information Commissioner, Joyce Ramnap, said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Friday monitored by News Point Nigeria. “The response we got was…

MORE than a month after the deadly attack in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, 107 victims are still receiving treatment in various hospitals, according to the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). The agency’s Executive Secretary, James Iorpuu, disclosed the figure on Tuesday during a joint media briefing in Makurdi with visiting counterparts from Nasarawa and Plateau states. Iorpuu, who also serves as Permanent Secretary of the Benue State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, condemned the repeated violence in rural communities and described the scale of destruction in Yelwata as severe. “So far, 107 survivors…

POLICE authorities in Nasarawa State have launched an investigation into the abduction of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Nasarawa State, Yusuf Musa. Spokesman of the Nasarawa Police Command, Ramhan Nansel, in a statement, said, “At about 03:05hrs, on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, a patrol team from B Division, Lafia, discovered a Peugeot pick-up van with all doors left wide open in a suspicious manner. “Upon closer examination, officers observed that the gate to the victim’s residence was also ajar, prompting immediate security concerns. “A swift search of the premises confirmed that Barr. Yusuf Musa was missing, along with his…

TWO Nigerian-born billionaires, Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi and Tope Awotona, have been named in Forbes’ 2025 list of America’s Richest Immigrants. The list features 125 billionaires from 41 countries, who collectively make up 14% of all billionaires living in the U.S. and control 18% of the country’s total billionaire wealth. Forbes notes that a remarkable 93% of them are self-made, having built their fortunes primarily in industries such as technology and finance. Ogunlesi, with a net worth of $2.4 billion, is ranked 77th and recognized for his success in private equity. Awotona, known for founding scheduling software company Calendly, sits at…

THE Plateau State High Court 10 sitting in Jos has remanded 20 suspects accused of killing wedding guests in Mangun community, Mangu Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. 13 of the travellers were killed, while many others injured in the attack by suspected mobs while on their way to Kwa community in Qua’an Pan LGA of Plateau. The victims, comprising 32 men, women, and children, were traveling in an 18-seater bus from Basawa community in Sabon Gari LGA, Kaduna State, to attend a wedding ceremony when they ran into the assailants in the area. On Thursday, the State Police…

FOUR policemen were feared killed on Sunday at Udei community by gunmen who attacked the community. A local source who spoke to News Point Nigeria‘s correspondent on the killing said the policemen responded to a distress call by the community. Upon their arrival, they asked the community youths to pull back as there were no signs of attack on the community. The policemen, it was gathered, then fired warning shots into the air, only to be returned by gunmen who laid ambush planning to attack the community. Four policemen were feared killed on the spot. “At about 3pm, when the…

THE High Court in Lafia, Nasarawa State, has sentenced Oluwatimileyin Ajayi to death by hanging for the gruesome murder of a National Youth Service Corps member, Salome Adaidu. Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Simon Aboki found Ajayi guilty of culpable homicide, having killed and dismembered the victim. Justice Aboki said that the prosecuting counsel proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt that the convict killed the victim at his residence. The judgment posited that the defendant claims that he became unconscious after having a good time with his girlfriend, and was unconscious when he wrote his confessional statement, does not…

THE Benue State Police Command has launched a manhunt for suspected kidnappers following the abduction of passengers from a commercial vehicle in the Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state. Gunmen reportedly attacked a Hummer bus with registration number 14B-143BN along the Eke axis at about 6:30 pm on Sunday. The assailants were said to have ambushed the vehicle, robbed the occupants, and whisked several passengers into the nearby bush. Confirming the incident in a terse statement on Monday to Channels Television, the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, said one of the abducted passengers, identified as…

THE joint security services in Benue State has announced the arrest of suspects linked to recent attack in the Yelwata area of the state where several persons were killed. The Commissioner of Police in Benue State, Emenari Ifeanyi, announced the arrest at a press briefing on Sunday but didn’t disclose the identity of the suspects. This followed President Bola Tinubu’s Wednesday order that service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) arrest those behind the dastardly attack. The police boss said the arrest would not have been possible without Governor Hyacinth Alia’s support. Emenari also said that the deployment…

THE Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has suspended his Special Adviser on Documentation, Research, and Planning, Mkor Aondona, who was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged sextortion, cyberbullying, and blackmail. In a statement on Sunday by his spokesperson Tersoo Kula, the governor said the suspension was indefinite. The governor said his decision was to uphold integrity, discipline, and accountability in public service. He said any official of his administration found wanting in matters of criminality or ethical misconduct would face the full weight of the law. “While assuring the public that the law will…

GUNMEN have killed the former Peoples Democratic Party chairman of Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State, Aondoakaa Yaiyol. Yaiyol before he was killed Friday night was the Commander of the Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Services in the local government. It was gathered that the deceased lost his wife last year in the same circumstance and his house burnt. The PDP state publicity secretary, Tim Nyior confirmed the assassination of Yaiyol in a telephone call on Saturday. Nyior said, “It’s true that the man was once PDP chairman in Tarka LGA before his current position as commander of the…

THIRTEEN persons, mostly children and the elderly, were killed and houses burnt in Juwan and Manja communities in Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas of Plateau State by suspected herdsmen. The deadly attack on Juwan in the Tangur District of Bokkos Local Government Area occurred on Thursday night, with ten persons killed and some others sustaining serious injuries. In Manja, Chafem Chiefdom of Mangu Local Government Area, three persons were killed on Thursday evening. They were on the farm tilling the grounds and tending their farmland when the attackers caught them unaware and killed them. Others escaped with injuries after…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has mandated the country’s service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to go after those behind the dastardly killings in Benue State, which have left scores of people dead and many others severely injured. Tinubu issued the order on Wednesday during his visit to Benue State following the renewed attacks in the North-Central State. “Police, I hope your men are on alert to listen to information. How come no arrest has been made? I expect there should be an arrest of those criminals,” Tinubu said at the Benue Government House in Makurdi, the capital,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has arrived in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, ahead of his visit to the Yelwata community, in the Guma Local Government Area of the state. Tinubu arrived at the Tactical Air Command, Nigerian Air Force Base, Makurdi, at about 12:58 pm. The state government declared a public holiday for the visit. The President is expected to meet with major stakeholders in the state in view of the violent attacks that have led to the loss of lives. Tinubu is expected to meet with families of victims, displaced and injured persons, and community leaders directly impacted by the…

THE National Emergency Management(NEMA) has deployed essential relief materials to provide immediate succour to those displaced and affected by the incident. The deployment, according to the agency, followed a rapid needs assessment jointly conducted by officials of NEMA, the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Nigerian Red Cross Society and relevant security agencies. The Director General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, has also activated the Agency’s North Central Zonal Office, under the leadership of the Zonal Director Mr Aliyu Waziri, to oversee the distribution of the relief items in coordination with Benue SEMA. The DG, in a statement on…

THE Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, on Monday, arrived Benue State in North Central Nigeria where ferocious marauders wreaked havoc last Friday, killed scores and displaced hundreds of people. Egbetokun arrived the state in company of other senior management team and ordered for the immediate deployment of additional tactical teams. The police chief would meet with Governor Hyacinth Alia and other state actors before departing for Abuja. Benue State has been under heavy attacks by suspected herdsmen for some time. The killings have lingered for years, with some linking it to inter-communal conflicts as well as the quest…

GOVERNOR Hyacinth Alia on Monday opened up on a truce-seeking meeting he held with President Bola Tinubu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume. The governor, who was a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme monitored by News Point Nigeria, said the President convened the meeting as part of a political solution to end the gruesome killings in the state. Benue, a food-producing state in Nigeria’s North-Central zone, has been under heavy attacks by gunmen for some time. The killings have lingered for years, with some linking it to inter-communal conflicts as well…

A CHURCH building has collapsed in Taraba State, injuring many worshippers. The church, UMCN church, is located behind Police Divisional office, in Mutum-Biyu town, the headquarters of Gassol Local Government Area of the State. Sources told this newspaper that worshipers were said to be in the church on Sunday before the building caved in due to a heavy rainfall accompanied by strong windstorm. However, no death was recorded in the incident. Those who sustained injuries were taken to Mutumbiyu Refferal Hospital for treatment, while those with fractures were rushed to a local bone setter in the town. The bone setter,…

ANGRY youths on Sunday stormed the Wurukum food basket roundabout to protest the alleged killing of scores of residents by gunmen in Yelwata, in Benue State. The protesters converged on the Wurukum food basket roundabout Makurdi as early as 8am to demand action over the alleged killing oon Saturday in Yelwata. Speaking to journalists, one of the protesters, Solomon Amande, said Benue youths were angry at the deafening silence of President Bola Tinubu, and the governor of Benue State despite the killing of children, women, and the elderly. An attempt by the Deputy Governor of Benue State, Sam Ode, to…

THE Kaduna State Police Command has confirmed it is monitoring a recent media report alleging the involvement of the wife of Senator Sunday Marshall Katung in a money laundering case in the United Kingdom. The report, published by an online news platform on June 10, alleged that Mrs. Abigail Katung, who currently serves as the Lord Mayor of Leeds, was implicated in financial misconduct linked to a known offender in the UK. Responding to the development, the Media Office of Senator Katung issued a statement on Thursday refuting the claims, describing the report as “sensational” and “misleading.” “The attention of…