SOME travellers abducted on Emure-ile Road in Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State have regained their freedom from the kidnappers’ den. The victims, who were traveling in an 18-seater bus, were abducted on Sunday night by gunmen while returning from Onitsha in Anambra State to Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital. The gunmen reportedly contacted the families of the victims, demanding N30 million per person for their release. However, the victims were released in the early hours of Wednesday morning after paying ransoms ranging from N1 million to N2 million to the kidnappers. Narrating his ordeal, the driver of the…
Author: Farouk Abbas
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THE Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, on Thursday visited Sokoto State. His visit comes a day after a fighter jet mistakenly bombed two communities in the Silame Local Government Area of the state, killing at least 10 innocent villagers and injuring several others. Addressing journalists at the Giginya Cantonment Sokoto, the CDS reiterated that the Nigerian Government will not allow any foreign base to use its soil to attack neighboring countries. Musa said the military tried to avoid mistakes from the operation in Silame LGA, adding that investigation would be launched into the matter. “We have individuals that…
A SECURITY expert, Kingsley Uzoma, says there is a need for a holistic investigation to exactly identify those that lost their lives during a military air strike in Sokoto State on Wednesday. The Sokoto State Government claimed that a fighter jet mistakenly bombed two communities in Silame Local Government Area of the state, killing about 10 innocent villagers and injuring several others. “The military jets were on their mission to eliminate criminals armed groups terrorizing the state, and mistakenly bombed innocent people of this community,” the Press Secretary to the Sokoto State Governor, Abubakar Bawa said. “We consider this as…
TELECOMMS operators may get approval to increase call and data tariffs before the end of first quarter of 2025, a top official of one of the four big telecom companies said. The top official who pleaded anonymity stated that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) might give the telcos approval to increase rates of calls, SMS, and internet bundles. If the approval is given, it will mark the end of over a decade of lobbying by telecom giants like MTN Nigeria, Airtel, and 9Mobile, who have been consistently calling for price adjustments to reflect economic realities. This newspaper reports that despite…
THE Joint Task Force North West Operation Fansan Yamma has refuted reports alleging that a military jet targeted civilian structures in Silame Local Government Area of Sokoto State. Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Abdullahi, Coordinator of the Joint Media Coordination Centre, issued the clarification in a statement made available to News Point Nigeria, Wednesday night. This newspaper had reported that many villagers were feared dead while several others injured as a fighter jet targeting Lakurawa terrorist group mistakingly bombed two communities in Silame Local Government Area of Sokoto State. A resident of Silame, who gave his name as Malam Yahya, noted that…
MANY villagers were feared dead while several others injured as a fighter jet targeting Lakurawa terrorist group mistakingly bombed two communities in Silame Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The affected communities were Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa. According to locals, the incident occured around 7am on Wednesday. A resident of Silame, who gave his name as Malam Yahya, noted that the two villages were located close to Surame Forest identified as another hideout of Lakurawa and bandits. Another source told this newspaper that over 10 villagers were killed and several others sustained varying degrees of injury during the airstrike. The…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Monday, December 23, 2024, arraigned the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, Akindele Akintoye at the Federal High Court, Abuja, over an alleged $35 million fraud. He was arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite on charges bordering on money laundering and contract fraud. On October 31, 2024, Akintoye was arrested by the EFCC and detained at its holding facility in Abuja. According to a tweet via the commission’s X handle on Wednesday, Akintoye allegedly collected $35m from the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board to build a 2,000 barrel-per-day refinery, jetty,…
NO fewer than 14 Nigerians have been declared wanted by the International Police for offences ranging from human trafficking, drug trafficking, robbery, cheating, and forgery, among others. This newspaper gathered on Tuesday from Red Notices published on the INTERPOL website that the 14 Nigerians were wanted by different countries where they had allegedly committed the crime. The notices identified the wanted persons as Felix Omoregie, Jessica Edosomwan, Uche Egbue, Jude Uzoma, Chinedu Ezeunara, Benedict Okoro, Ikechukwu Obidiozor, and Alachi Stanley. Others are Bouhari Salif, Timloh Nkem, Austine Costa, Okromi Festus, Akachi Vitus and Mary Eze. According to the notices, Omoregie…
THE Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the appointment and posting of six new Commissioners of Police. The appointments and postings, PSC said were sequel to the recent promotions in the Nigeria Police Force released by the Commission last week. In the new appointments, CP Shettima Jauro Mohammed was posted to Nasarawa state Command; Rabin Mohamned, now CP, Kaduna State Command and Adepoju Olugbenga Adewale posted to Rivers State Command. Others are; Mohammed Baba Azare, now CP, Akwa Ibom State Command; Wilfred Olatokunbo Afolabi new CP Ondo State Command and Joseph Eribo, former CP, Akwa Ibom State now moved to…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has phased out high-interest foreign exchange (FX) swaps to stabilise financial markets. It has settled 80 per cent of FX forward obligations, thereby boosting liquidity and market confidence. Deputy Governor, Monetary Policy, Mohammed Sani Dattijo, said the CBN has also maintained robust external reserves to support exchange rate appreciation. He stated these in a presentation titled “Enhancing FX Market Efficiency” at a meeting of the Economic Management Team (EMT) convened by the Federal Government to assess critical economic policies and progress in key sectors. Sani highlighted the launch of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching…
GOMBE State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON, has signed the 2025 Appropriation Bill of N369. 9 into law. This follows its successful passage by the Gombe State House of Assembly. Speaking during the signing ceremony held at the Government House in Gombe, Governor Inuwa Yahaya described the 2025 budget as a blueprint for economic growth and social development, stating that the appropriation law has reflected his administration’s resolve to deepen its development agenda as it focuses on sectors that directly impact the lives of our citizens. He commended the Gombe State House of Assembly for the swift passage of the…
THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has said that the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun did not instruct Nigerians to attack officers during stop-and-search operations. In a statement on Monday, the force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi said Egbetokun has never encouraged violence against law enforcement agents. The statement said “The Nigeria Police Force wishes to address a viral fake news story that has emerged, claiming that Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM., has instructed citizens to physically assault and throw stones at police officers who request to search their phones. “This claim is entirely false and has no basis…
FOUR suspects linked to the notorious terrorist kingpin, Bello Turji, on Monday, pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against them by the Federal Government bordering on alleged terrorism. The duo, who were allegedly suspected to be bandits leaders; Musa Muhammad Kamarawa; Abubakar Hashimu, a.k.a. Doctor; Samuel Chinedu; and Lucky Chukwuma, denied their involvement in the act before Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court in Abuja when the 11 counts were read to them. News Point Nigeria had earlier reported that though eight defendants were listed on the face of the charge, three of them, including Bello Turji,…
THE Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), has reaffirmed its commitment to establishing digital libraries in basic education schools across the country in addition to offering cost effective ways of bringing educational resources to learners and teachers. The reaffirmation was made by the National Coordinator of the UBEC Digital Resource Center, DRC, Professor Bashir Galadanci while declaring open a three-day training workshop on Digital Library and Education Resource Management at the UBEC Digital Resource Center, Abuja. Professor Galadanci who represented the UBEC Executive Secretary noted that “digital libraries had brought about diverse, multiple and exciting media formats including videos, games,…
THE Federal Government will today (Monday) arraign five suspected terrorists linked to the notorious terrorist kingpin, Bello Turji, at the Federal High Court in Abuja. In the charges, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/633/2024 filed before Justice Emeka Nwite, the Federal Government alleged, among others, that the suspects imported a military gun truck worth N28.5m from Libya. The suspects, who were arrested by the Nigerian security agencies, will be arraigned by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation before Justice Nwite, a vacation judge. Although they were scheduled for arraignment on Friday, their plea could not be taken because no lawyer appeared for…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will spend part of his holiday in Lagos considering the final list of prospective Nigerian envoys to various countries and international organisations. Reliable sources close to the President confirmed that Tinubu has “activated” the process of appointing the envoys. However, our correspondents gathered that the process suffered delays due to the paucity of funds required to pay arrears of foreign service officials, settle a backlog of overheads, replace ageing vehicles and renovate embassy buildings. Almost $1bn is required to foot the bills, a source told our correspondent. President Tinubu is currently in Lagos for the Christmas and…
THE Statistician-General of the Federation/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Prince Adeyemi Adeniran has highlighted the importance of media collaboration for effective communication of statistical data for planning and development on sustainable bases to the public Prince Adeniran spoke on Friday at a Retreat organised by the Bureau for Journalists and Civil Society Organisations (CEOs) in Keffi, Nasarawa State. Represented by the Director of Agriculture and Business Statistics Department, Biyi Fafunmi, he said the media and CSOs play an indispensable role in national statistics production, serving as a bridge between statistical agencies and the public.…
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has reduced its ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly referred to as petrol, from N1,020 to N899 per litre. This decision, coming days after the Dangote Refinery reduced its price to N899, was confirmed by the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria in a statement released on Saturday. The statement signed by the association’s National Public Relations Officer, Dr Joseph Obele, and quoting a document released by NNPCL’s Commercial Department indicates a reduction based on the regional pricing scheme. The price indicated that marketers would buy the product at N899 per…
THE Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered a leading telecommunications firm, MTN Nigeria to pay N15million in damages over the unlawful deduction of a subscriber’s airtime over services an aggrieved customer – Ezugwu Anene – claimed not to have subscribed for. A three-member panel of the court awarded the damages in favour of Anene in a unanimous decision, which was read on Friday by Justice Okon Abang, who wrote the lead judgment. The court described as fraudulent, the regular deduction of airtime of customers by MTN for the auto-renewal of services not subscribed to. It also held that the…
A STAUNCH ally of wanted kidnap kingpin Bello Turji andd his second-in-command, Bako Wurgi; and two other kingpins Hamisu Sale (aka Master), and Abubakar Muhammad, have been arrested by the military. Wurgi is suspected to be linked to the murder of a Sokoto monarch. The Director of Media Operations, Defence Headquarters, Maj-Gen. Buba Edward, who disclosed this added that Wurgi had died as a result of gunshot wounds after his arrest. Buba said the terrorist kingpins were arrested during operations in the North-West and North Central zones of the country. “Significantly, a high profile terrorist identified as Hamisu Sale (aka…