Author: Farouk Abbas

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…

THE minimum pump price of petrol has not responded to the latest Dangote Petroleum Refinery ex-pot price slash of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol to N899.50 per litre, from N970 per litre. Most petrol stations in Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos have retained the old price range of N1,025 minimum in Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, while some major oil marketers still sell at N1,070 and independent marketers sell as high as N1,100. According to the refinery, the slash in price was expected to provide much-needed relief for Nigerians ahead of the holiday season. Meanwhile, commenting…

THE Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Thursday ordered the final forfeiture of a warehouse built on a landed property measuring 1.925 hectares of land along the Lagos/Ibadan expressway in Magboro, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. The court also ordered the permanent forfeiture of 54 general purpose steel containers. Justice Deinde Dipeolu made the order for the final forfeiture to the federal government of Nigeria, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) moved an application for the forfeiture of the assets since no person or organisation came forward to claim them. On November 28, the…

THE National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu on Thursday said that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has achieved over 80 percent success in anti-kidnaping operations. He said the success was as a result of sacrifices of the security agencies and effective coordination by the Office of the National Security Adviser. Ribadu said this at the operationalization of the Multi-Agency Kidnap Fusion Cell (MAAKFC) at the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The NSA said kidnapping remains one of the most pressing security threats in the country, which had caused untold hardship for countless families, disrupted economic activities, and posed…

THE Federal Capital Territory High Court, on Thursday, granted the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, bail in the sum of N500 million with three sureties in like sum. Justice Maryann Anenih had, on December 10, refused the ex-governor’s bail application, saying it was filed prematurely. While delivering the initial ruling, she said, having been filed when the 1st defendant was neither in custody nor before the court, the instant application was incompetent. There was, however room for the governor’s lawyers to file a fresh application for bail and apply for hearing date. The former governor is facing…

THE National Bureau of Statistics has announced that its official website has been compromised by unidentified hackers. This development was disclosed in a statement posted on the bureau’s official X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday. The NBS urged the public to disregard any information or reports shared on its behalf from unofficial sources until the website is fully restored. The bureau assured the public that its technical team is actively working to resolve the issue. The statement read, “This is to inform the public that the NBS website has been hacked and we are working to recover it. Please disregard…

THE Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited provided inaccurate and misleading information regarding the details of its $1bn investment in the refinery’s operations, stressing that the facts were misrepresented in a manner that misguides stakeholders and the public about the nature and extent of the investment. The company clarified that the $1bn crude-backed loan is only five per cent of the total investment that went into building the 650,000 barrels per day refinery. On Monday, the NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr Olufemi Soneye, at a stakeholders engagement meeting, revealed that the national oil…

THE Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says the Fly Nigeria Act will transform into law under his watch. The minister lamented that the document, which is expected to make it mandatory for government-financed air transportation of government personnel, contractors, grantees, and properties to be carried by Nigeria Air Flag Carriers, has yet to materialise more than 15 years after it was first proposed. Speaking at a one-day “Stakeholders’ Engagement on the Legal Framework for the Fly Nigeria Bill and Related Enabling Legislation’, in Abuja, Keyamo said he would rally all the major stakeholders to push for the…

THE House of Representatives has resolved to invite the Chief of Defense Staff, the Chief of Army staff and the commanding officer of the 177 battalion over an alleged unlawful arrest and detention of a community leader in Nasarawa state. Honourable Mansur Soro who moved the motion during Tuesday’s plenary, explained that on December 9th 2024, the community leader Bello Badejo was arrested in Maliya town, Nassarawa State by officers of the 177 battalion of the Nigerian Army with no prior invitation or court injunction. He further stated that one week after, Badejo is yet to be arraigned, which signifies…

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said it secured a $1bn loan backed by crude oil to support the coming on stream of the 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote Petroleum Refinery. Recall Aliko Dangote, had said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery was built without any incentive from the federal government. Dangote spoke at the 2024 Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) summit, held in Lagos in October. “We built the Dangote refinery without a single incentive from the government,” he said. “To ensure sufficient feedstock availability, we will need to stop mortgaging crude. It is unfortunate that while…

THE Supreme Court has dismissed the lawsuit seeking the removal of President Bola Tinubu from office. The suit filed by the presidential candidate of the Hope Democratic Party in the 2019 general election, Ambrose Aworu, sought Tinubu’s removal based on Central Intelligence Agency and drug allegations. The apex court in an unanimous decision by a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, on Monday held that the suit was frivolous and that Owuru be fined the sum of N5 million. It further warned the Registry of the Supreme Court not to accept any frivolous originating summons from the…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced a landmark arrest of a total number of 792 suspects for offences bordering on cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scam. EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, who briefed journalists at the commission’s office in Lagos on Monday said the suspects were apprehended on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, in a surprise operation at their hideout, an imposing seven-storey edifice known as Big Leaf Building, on No.7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. Uwujaren said, “The breakthrough followed actionable intelligence and months of surveillance and monitoring the activities of the syndicate.Among the…

NIGERIA’s headline inflation rate rose to 34.60% in November 2024 from 33.88% in October 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday. The November inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72% points compared to the October 2024 inflation rate, according to NBS’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services. “On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 6.40% points higher than the rate recorded in November 2023 (28.20%). This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in November 2024 compared to the same month in…