THE Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia on Wednesday dissolved the State Executive Council. Alia announced the dissolution in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Tersoo Kula, and made available to newsmen in Makurdi. Kula said that the governor informed the council members of the dissolution at the end of the 12th (2025) SEC meeting. The chief press secretary said that the governor directed the commissioners to hand over to the permanent secretaries of their ministries as soon as possible. He appreciated all the former commissioners who worked with him for two years and urged those who might…
Author: Gloria Lamar Johnson
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FIRST Lady Remi Tinubu on Tuesday announced a ₦1 billion donation by the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) to support families displaced by a suspected herders’ attack in Benue State. She made the announcement at the New Banquet Hall of the Benue State Government House during her condolence visit to the state, following the attack on Yelewata community in June, which claimed over 100 lives. According to her, the donation, aligned with the mission of the Renewed Hope Initiative, is intended to help displaced families regain stability, return to their livelihoods, and build better lives. “On behalf of the governing council…
THE Kogi State Police Command has confirmed the discovery of the body of a slain photojournalist, Mr. Ayo Aiyepeku, who was allegedly killed by his neighbour, Oluwapelumi Adebayo, in Lokoja, the state capital. The disturbing discovery was made on Sunday evening, with the body found in a bush near the WAEC office in the Crusher Zone 8 area of the city. Police say the recovery followed days of investigation after the victim was reported missing last Tuesday, July 22. Speaking to journalists on Monday in Lokoja, the spokesperson for the state police command, SP Williams Aya, confirmed the development and…
THE abductors of the six Nigerian Law School students have reportedly demanded a ransom of N20m for each victim, News Point Nigeria gathered. The students were reportedly kidnapped in Benue State by suspected gunmen while travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to the Yola campus of the Nigerian Law School in Adamawa State on Saturday. News Point Nigeria reported on Sunday that the incident occurred in the late hours of Saturday, as the students were on their way to resume academic activities at the Yola campus of the Nigerian Law School, scheduled to reopen on Monday (today), following their court externship…
FEAR and anxiety have gripped the Nigerian Law School community following the abduction of at least six students by armed men suspected to be bandits, along a notorious stretch of road between Taraba and Benue States. News Point Nigeria reports that the incident, which occurred in the late hours of Saturday, July 26, involved students who were travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to resume academic activities at the Yola campus of the Nigerian Law School in Adamawa State. The campus is scheduled to reopen on Monday, July 28, after students concluded their mandatory court externship programme. One of the students,…
RADIO Nigeria’s Prime 101.5FM Jimgbe in Kogi State has gone off air following a robbery attack in which transmission equipment worth millions of naira were stolen. Quoting the General Manager of the Station, Momoh-Jimoh Adeiza, Kogi Reports, a local publication, said the incident happened in the early hours of Saturday. The armed robbers were said to have operated uninterrupted for more than three hours. Adezia told reporters that they woke up to see that their station had been vandalised, with no trace of the armed men behind the incident. “This is a major attack on the station. We are currently…
THE Federal Government, through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, is currently constructing 250 units Renewed Hope estate in 12 states across the six geopolitical zones in the country. The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa spoke in Kano on Friday during an inspection of the ongoing construction of the Renewed Hope City and Estate in Lambu, Kano State. He noted that provision is also being finalised to flag off construction of the same project in the remaining 24 states to make affordable housing available for Nigerians. Government is also constructing seven Renewed Hope Cities, one…
THE Kogi State Police Command has launched a manhunt for a photojournalist accused of killing his colleague, Mr. Ayo Aiyepeku, in what authorities have described as a brutal and cold-blooded attack. The incident reportedly occurred on Tuesday night at an office around the Government House/GRA axis of Lokoja, where both the victim and the suspect worked as photographers in an unnamed firm. Confirming the incident to this newspaper, the spokesperson for the Kogi State Police Command, SP William Ovye-Aya, said the matter was reported in the early hours of July 23. “The incident, which reportedly happened on Tuesday, has been…
FORMER Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, says he does not regret working against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election, despite that he was the flag bearer of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “I did not hide it. I have no regret,” the former governor said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria. Ortom was one of the five PDP governors at the time, known as G5, who openly rejected Atiku as the PDP flag bearer and worked for Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the…
THE Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services, Hon. Mark B. Useni, has strongly denied recent media reports suggesting allegations of administrative misconduct or statutory violations against the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Aisha Garba. In a statement issued to journalists in Taraba State on Monday, Hon. Useni described the claims as false, misleading, and unfounded, warning that such misinformation could erode public trust in both the legislature and the institutions tasked with delivering basic education across Nigeria. Useni, who represents the Ussa/Takum/Donga federal constituency, clarified that neither the House…
THE Kaduna State Police Command has stopped a planned rally by supporters of the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the state. The rally was billed to be held in honour of Obi’s birthday celebration. Stating the reason for banning the rally, the Command said that intelligence information at its disposal revealed that certain criminal elements are planning to infiltrate and hijack the proposed rally, using it as a platform to cause disruption, incite violence, and disturb the prevailing public peace in the state. In a statement by its Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, the command said…
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…