Author: Eileen Peters

SEVERAL students of the University of Benin have been trapped in a three-storey building that collapsed in Ekosodin on Saturday morning. Ekosodin shares borders with the University of Benin, and hosts a large number of student population. The storey building on Ekhator Street, Benin, the state capital, collapsed during the early morning rainfall in the state. Our correspondent gathered that although some of the trapped students have been rescued, the search for others is ongoing. The Dean of Student Affairs is said to be on the scene, coordinating rescue efforts alongside the university team. One of the students at the…

THE Peoples Democratic Party has refused to sign the peace accord for the Edo State Governorship election scheduled for September 21. Former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar announced this on Thursday at the venue of the signing of the peace accord in Benin. According to him, the PDP said it would only sign the peace accord if certain conditions are met. “I met the governor yesterday and he told me the PDP are not going to sign this peace accord,” he said. “They had made some observations and I was expecting the chairman of the PDP to come and make…

THE Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has officially inaugurated Mr. Daere Akobo, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of PANA Holdings, into its prestigious Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) “Body of Neutrals.” This esteemed appointment elevates Mr. Akobo as a key figure in the resolution of complex disputes within Nigeria’s vital oil and gas sector. His induction is seen as a significant development, reflecting his expertise and longstanding leadership in promoting sustainable, fair, and effective conflict resolution. Mr. Akobo’s appointment into the ADRC Body of Neutrals not only serves as a milestone for him and PANA Holdings but also…

CHAIRMAN of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu has said Edo State has recorded a total of 2.6 million registered voters. According to him, sensitive materials are ready and will be delivered to the Central Bank of Nigeria early next week. While speaking on Wednesday at the INEC Stakeholders Conference in Benin City, Yakubu added that mock accreditation has been successfully carried out in preparation for the election. While speaking, the Inspection General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun said the force has put its foot down to work towards a peaceful election in the state,. He insisted that…

A TOTAL of 16 children believed to be victims of trafficking have been rescued from their abductors in the Osuoha area of Port Harcourt. The incident went viral when a social media video appeared to show them. It surfaced on the internet with a request for good Samaritans to assist in locating the children’s parents for identification. Though the Rivers State Police Command has yet to comment on the matter, and messages sent to the Public Relations Officer have not yet been responded to, our correspondent’s investigations have shed some light on the matter. According to a highly placed police…

TEN maritime travellers who were abducted along the Bonny – Port Harcourt waterway earlier this week have regained their freedom. The victims of them were abducted on Monday, September 2. The police authorities had pledged to investigate the incident and rescue the victims. But a source confirmed the victims’ release to Channels Television on Saturday. He said 10 of the travellers were abandoned by their abductors when they noticed operatives of the Nigerian Navy’s, Forward Operations Base (FOB), Bonny were searching for them. The within the FOB Bonny who doesn’t want to be quoted said that operatives of the base…

AKWA Ibom State Government has warned residents to be wary of Mpox the state records five cases of the disease. Giving an update on the outbreak of Mpox on Friday, the State Government disclosed that five cases have been reported in some local government areas. A total of 30 samples were collected for diagnosis where the initial four cases were confirmed comprising three males and a female, ages 2, 4, 12 and 41. Confirming the incident, an official in charge of disease surveillance and notification at the state Ministry of Health, Samuel Etuk, who had earlier announced the four cases,…

THE Ogun State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of a senior nursing officer at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan Remo, Ikenne Local government area in Ogun State, Elizabeth Uruakpa by suspected kidnappers. The police public relations officer Omolola Odutola confirmed the incident during a chat with News Point Nigeria correspondent in Abeokuta the state capital. ”A distress call was received from Ilishan near the new market at about 1710hrs that one Elizabeth Uruakpa was abducted by young armed men who blocked her Honda CRV with their unregistered Red Toyota Camry, and zoomed off with her,” she said. She…

TWO American tourists, Liza Gatsby, and Peter Jenkins, have recounted what led them to spend over 36 years in Nigeria instead of the 10-day transit visas that were approved for them in 1988. The two tourists made the revelation in an interview with a content creator, David Nkwa, monitored by our correspondent on Wednesday. According to them, they never planned to stay in Nigeria beyond their approved days of visitation until they saw the need to save drill monkeys in the country because they were impressed by the dominance of interesting opportunities in areas of Science and Wildlife Conservation, the…

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has advised police officers in the state against abandoning their professional responsibilities to take advantage of the political crisis in the state to pursue vested political interests The governor urged them to know that the enmity they fuel and eventually create will hurt them in the long run. He gave the advise at the inauguration and official handover of 100 operational vehicles acquired by his administration to the Rivers State Police Command at the Sharks Football Stadium in Port Harcourt on Tuesday. He maintained that police officers are engaged and trained as professionals to protect…

AT least 10 maritime travellers are feared to have been abducted by sea pirates along the Bonny – Port Harcourt waterway. Though details are still sketchy, Channels Television gathered that the incident which occurred in the early hours of Monday morning is believed to involve 10 persons travelling between Bonny and Port Harcourt. Confirming the incident via telephone, the district Chairman, MARITIME Workers Union of Nigeria Rivers State district, Israel Pepple said “It’s not a rumour, it is real. “10 persons have been kidnapped this morning coming from Bonny to Port Harcourt. We’ve reported to the security agencies”. When contacted,…

THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has vowed to cause political crisis in the state of any governor who tries to interfere in the affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State. Wike said this at the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt on Saturday during the party’s state congress. “Let me assure all of you, not while we live will anybody take away the structure of PDP from us. But let me tell people, I hear some governors who say they will take over the structure and give back to somebody, I pity those governors…

THE Akwa Ibom State Police Command on Wednesday neutralised a dreaded Kidnap Kingpin/ Sea Pirate whose stock in trade was to kidnap, kill, maim and cause havoc in the state. The Kingpin, Ubong Archibong alias condiment, a gang leader of the bling marine strike force terrorising Uruan/Oron Water Ways, was responsible for the kidnapping of a High Court Judge, Joy Unwana and the killing of her Police orderly Inspector, ThankGod Edet, the gruesome murder of the CEO Emem and Sons Nig. Ltd, and the kidnapping of his sales rep. The suspect was also responsible for the kidnap of Pharmacist Joemel…

WAHEED Ayilara, Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, is dead. This newspaper reports that, Ayilara, who took over the State Command of Nigeria Police Force in February, died while undergoing surgery at a popular hospital in Lagos State. “We are very sad to inform you that our friend, brother and family, the Commissioner of Police for Akwa Ibom State, Waheed Ayilara is dead,” the newspaper quoted a family member to have said. The deceased was said to have had prostate cancer surgery on Wednesday before he died hours later. Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, was…

NO fewer than 72 illegal crude oil refining sites were uncovered in the past week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited disclosed in a video report. The 72 illegal refineries were reportedly discovered and destroyed in Rivers, Delta and Abia states. On August 18, a vessel was said to have been arrested by men of Operation Delta Safe with 12 suspects on board in the Southern Ijaw area of Bayelsa State. “The tugboat was caught loaded with stolen Shell Petroleum Development Company flow lines, which shows that not only did the thieves break the pipelines in order to connect their…

THE current Mpox outbreak in Nigeria has spread to 30 local government areas in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with 40 confirmed cases so far. A report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) also showed that there are so far a total of 802 suspected cases in 33 states of the Federation. This situation report was released a few days before the United States government donated 10,000 doses of Mpox vaccines to Nigeria. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) had declared Mpox a Public…

THE Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has overturned the judgement of a Federal High Court which ordered the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to allow the participation of 381 ad-hoc delegates in its February 22 primary election in Edo State. The primary election produced Asue Ighodalo as the candidate of the party in the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state. A three-man panel of the appellate court set aside the judgement of Justice Inyang Ekwo delivered on the 4th of July, 2024, on the grounds that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit of the aggrieved…

THE Supreme Court has affirmed the re-election of Senator Duoye Diri as the Governor of Bayelsa State after dismissing the appeal of Timipre Sylva, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the November 11, 2023 off-cycle election. A five-member panel of the Apex Court headed by Justice Lawal Garba, on Friday affirmed the Court of Appeal decision of July 15 which deemed Sylva’s appeal as an abuse of Court process for filing two notices of appeal. Citing a section of the 1999 Constitution, the Apex Court panel held that the APC Governorship candidate has only one right to appeal…

THE Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has congratulated Edo Queens for securing a place in the finals of the CAF Champions League WAFU Group B Qualifier, after defeating Inter FC 2-1 in their semi-final match. The final match will determine who will represent the zone at this year’s CAF Women’s Champions League Finals in November. Edo Queens, who are the Nigerian Women’s Premier League (NWPL) champions, are participating in the fourth edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League WAFU-B Inter–Clubs play-off. “I congratulate Edo Queens for their victory today in Ivory Coast against FC Inter. Our girls dominated the game…

THE Energy Consortium – IIT Madras at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras was delighted to host Daere A.  Akobo and a leadership delegation with representatives from PANA Holdings , PE Energy Ltd , AKD Digital Solutions, as well as our Dr. Arunkumar Ranganathan and team on behalf of our founding member, Infosys. Our discussions covered the impactful work being conducted by the Energy Consortium in active collaboration with its founding member companies and government partners in accelerating net zero, as well as the recent formation of a Chapter to be based out of our IIT Madras Zanzibar Campus. We share…