IN an interview with a select newsmen, Honourable Ibrahim Kaita, a key stakeholder in Katsina State, expressed his admiration for the outstanding performance of Governor Umar Radda since assuming office in 2023. Kaita’s glowing endorsement is a vindication of the governor’s commitment to transforming Katsina State into a beacon of progress and development. At the heart of Radda’s transformative agenda is a bold vision for infrastructure development. The governor’s administration has unveiled a staggering N682.2 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year, representing a 40% increase from the previous year. According to him this significant investment is poised to accelerate…
Author: Sani Nura
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A NIGERIAN Air Force jet killed at least six civilians after mistakenly attacking them while pursuing gangs in northern Nigeria’s Katsina state, residents told AFP on Monday morning. News Point Nigeria also gathered that the Air Force dropped the bomb on a cluster of huts on the outskirts of Zakka village in Safana district late Saturday, three residents confirmed. The strike came after bandits attacked a police base in the village, killing two policemen and a vigilante assisting them, they added. “The jet deployed after the bandits had withdrawn and circled the village before striking a cluster of huts belonging…
SECURITY operatives have arrested a medical practitioner allegedly treating wounded bandits in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State. Among his patients is the notorious Usman Modi Modi, who has a N50 million bounty placed on him. In a video obtained by security analyst Zagazola Makama, the suspect, identified as Lawan Ado, confessed to treating several injured bandits. In the video, he said the bandits would pick him up and take him to their hideouts whenever they needed medical attention. According to him, the first bandit he treated was Usman Modi Modi after the gang leader sustained gunshot wounds in…
THE Zamfara State Government said it had uncovered 2,363 ghost workers following the verification of civil and public servants in the state. Governor Dauda Lawal constituted a committee headed by the state Head of Service in August 2024 with the mandate to conduct the verification exercise of state workers. A statement by the governor’s spokesman, Sulaiman Idris, revealed that the verification process exposed 220 minors receiving monthly pay as civil servants. The statement noted that the verification exercise was necessary due to the state government’s efforts to implement the N70,000 minimum wage. Idris said, “The committee’s final report submitted to…
GOVERNOR Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON, has given insights into his administration’s strides during the opening of a two-day retreat for members of the Jigawa State Executive Council and top government officials in Gombe. Drawing inferences from peer learning and sharing of best practices, the Governor outlined key milestones of his government, including the Network 11-100 road project, the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, healthcare reforms and urban renewal through digitized land administration. He also spoke on the State’s consistent ranking as Nigeria’s top state for ease of doing business and the Gombe Goes Green (3G) initiative. On public service reforms, he…
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lost another lawmaker to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Salisu Koko, member of the House of Representative representing Koko Besse/Maiyama constituency in Kebbi State announced his defection on Wednesday. The defection was conveyed in a letter read by Abbas Tajudeen, Speaker of the House during plenary on Wednesday. Koko cited prolonged and protracted crisis within the PDP at the National level as major reason for his decision to defect to the APC. There was laughter in the chambers after the speaker read the defcetion letter. However, Kingsley Chinda, House minority leader, protested, insisting…
ZAMFARA State Government has ruled out the possibility of negotiating with bandits to restore peace in the North-Western State. The government stated this in a statement on Tuesday, saying Governor Dauda Lawal was misquoted in an exclusive interview he granted to the BBC Hausa service over the weekend. “The banditry issue has been a significant concern for people across Zamfara State, Northwest, and the entire country for decades,” Governor Lawal’s aide, Sulaiman Bala Idris, said. According to Idris, the interview was mischievously translated by some media platforms to mislead the public about the position of the State Government. “This is…
MUSAWA Local Government Area of Katsina State has engaged the services of 75 Islamic scholars to seek divine intervention towards ending banditry and related ills in the area and state as a whole. The Executive Chairman of the area, Dr Habib Abdulkadir, made this known in an interview with newsmen. The council area is amongst several others faced with recurring security challenges brought about by activities of bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, and rustlers. Hundreds of people have lost their lives, while thousands have been abducted for ransom in the security-prone councils. In addition to Musawa, other councils facing the challenge include…
THE Gombe State Executive Council (SEC), presided over by Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON, has approved the sum of 580 million for the payment of registration fees for over 20,000 students sitting for various Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in 2025 across the state. This was announced by the Commissioner of Information, Culture and Ethical orientation, Hon. Mijinyawa Ardo Tilde, when he led other council members for a press briefing after the 45th executive council of the State. Speaking further on the council’s approval for the payment of the SSCE, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Aishatu Umar Maigari, stated that…
NASARAWA State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has forwarded the names of 16 commissioner nominees to the state House of Assembly for screening and confirmation. Recall that Sule had sacked members of his cabinet on January 3 to bring in technocrats with proven track records to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of the state. The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Danladi Jatau, announced the names of the nominees during the House proceedings in Lafia, the state capital, on Monday. Jatau said, “The governor has submitted 16 names of commissioner nominees to the Assembly for screening and confirmation,…
THE Kebbi State Government has finalised plans to sponsor the mass wedding of 600 individuals, comprising 300 grooms and 300 brides, with the government covering a dowry payment of ₦180,000 per couple. Addressing journalists in Birnin Kebbi on Sunday, the Chairman of the Mass Wedding Committee, Suleman Argungu, revealed that screening committees have been set up to ensure that all selected couples meet the required criteria. According to Argungu, the screening process will include pre-marital health checks and an assessment of the groom’s employment or trade status to ensure he is capable of providing for his wife. He further stated…
THE former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Ari, has insisted that he has enough evidence the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aisha Binani defeated Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Hudu, who spoke on Saturday in Bauchi with select journalists, said that both Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmud Yakubu, and the Election Tribunal dismissed all his evidence against the irregularities in the controversial governorship election. He said that there was pressure on him and other officials of the Commission to declare the incumbent Fintiri or else his…
KIDNAPPERS of a former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), retired General Maharazu Tsiga, have demanded a N250 million ransom for his release. A source close to the family who doesn’t want his name to be mentioned, told our correspondent on Saturday that the family of the victim was contacted last night by the kidnapper’s ringleader and requested the said amount. This newspaper reports that Tsiga was kidnapped alongside several other residents of Tsiga village in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State. A resident of the area confirmed the incident to this newspaper in a telephone call…
NO fewer than 11 worshippers, including an Imam, have been abducted by yet to be identified gunmen who invaded a mosque in Bushe community, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The attack during the Thursday Subhi prayer has left residents in despair. This newspaper reports residents as saying the gunmen had been molesting the people of the community for some time now. They said the timely intervention of security agents led by troops of the Nigerian Army curtailed the activities of the gunmen. The Sokoto State Police Command confirmed the attack yesterday. The Command’s spokesman, Ahmed Rufai, said…
ONE person has been reportedly killed while six others are hospitalized following Lakurawa terrorists attack at Gulma community in Argungu Local Government Area of Kebbi State. While speaking to our correspondent, Chairman of Argungu local government, Aliyu Sani Gulma, said the terrorists attacked the village around 11.00pm on Thursday while residents of the community were sleeping. “In the attack, they killed one person and shot six other people. The victims are at the Federal Medical Centre in Birnin Kebbi now”, he said. He added that the terrorists fled to the forest when they realized some persons in the community had…
GUNMEN suspected to be bandits have kidnapped a former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Major General Mahrazu Tsiga (retired). Tsiga, was kidnapped alongside several other residents of Tsiga village in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State. A resident of the area confirmed the incident to News Point Nigeria in a telephone call on Thursday. He said, the abduction occurred on Wednesday after the hoodlums armed with sophisticated weapons invaded the residence of the former NYSC Director General. The Katsina State Government and the police are yet to issue a statement on the latest abduction. Eyewitnesses said…
THE Kebbi State Police Command has arrested 165 illegal immigrants from Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Benin Republic, and Niger Republic, all residing in a three-bedroom flat in the Kuwait area of Birnin Kebbi. According to the command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Nafiu Abubakar, the arrests followed an intelligence report that led detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to discover the arrested individuals from francophone countries living in the cramped apartment. “During the operation, 35 Burkina Faso nationals, 110 from Ivory Coast, 11 from Benin Republic, five from Niger Republic, and four from Mali were taken into custody,”…
FIRE gutted two petrol-laden tankers at an MRS filling station along the Numan Road, opposite the Jezco filling station near the Yola International Airport on Tuesday. The road leading into Yola, the state capital, was blocked as curious residents of the area rushed out to catch a glimpse of the inferno, ignoring the inherent danger. Two fuel tankers have been consumed by the fire as of press time but men of the fire service have arrived at the scene. The emergency responders have begun efforts to contain the fire but it seemed they have run out of water. Security personnel…
TROOPS of the 6 Brigade, Nigerian Army and Sector 3 Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), have cracked down on a notorious bandit camp and killed a suspected bandit in Angwan Bala, Kambari village of Karim Lamido Local Government Area, Taraba State. The incident which occurred on Sunday 2025 followed intelligence gathering by the military. Acting on credible intelligence on the movement of suspected bandits, troops conducted a fighting patrol to the identified hideout, and on sighting the patrol team, the bandits opened fire, prompting an immediate and overwhelming response from the troops. In the ensuing firefight, one bandit was killed, while…
THE Adamawa State High Court sitting in Yola has dismissed an application filed by the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, seeking to halt proceedings in the case against him. Justice Benjamin Lawan Manji, in his ruling, rejected Hudu’s plea to stay proceedings indefinitely pending the judgment of an appeal filed at the Yola Court of Appeal. The appeal, heard on January 21, 2025, challenges the trial court’s jurisdiction and raises concerns of alleged bias. Hudu, through his counsel, M. K. Tijjani, argued that the trial court should adjourn the matter…