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THE Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has voted to increase the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 18. per cent, News Point Nigeria understands. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this while reading the communiqué of the second MPC meeting of the year on Tuesday. Addressing journalists at the end of the two-day meeting in Abuja, Mr Emefiele, said the committee voted to keep the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -500 basis points around the MPR. Analysts in the country had predicted the Central Bank of Nigeria and the MPC may not raise the…

TUKUR Mamu, former terrorist negotiator, on Mamu is accused of receiving ransom payments in the sum of 120,000.00 dollars  on behalf of the Boko haram terrorist group from families of hostages (victims) of the Abuja/Kaduna train attack. The federal government said the offence contravenes the provisions of the Section 21 (3) (a) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. The attorney general also alleged that Mamu, sometime in the 2022 in Kaduna received ransom payments in the sum of NSOO, 000  on behalf of the Boko haram terrorist group from families of hostages (victims) of the Abuja/Kaduna train attack.…

THE Federal Government will, today, arraigned Tukur Mamu, ex-terrorist negotiator, on 10-count charge bordering on terrorism financing among others. Mr Mamu, who will be arraigned by the office if the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, on behalf of the FG, will be arraigned before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Justice Nkeonye Maha of a sister court had, on September 13, 2022, gave the State Security Services, SSS, a go-ahead to detain the former terrorists’ negotiator for 60 days to enable it conclude its investigation on Mr Mamu, who led…

PSV Eindhoven have banned a supporter from their stadium for 40 years after he was found guilty of attacking Sevilla goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic during a Europa League match. The 20-year-old man, who was already serving a national stadium ban and should not have been in the ground, was given a three-month prison sentence. He was also banned from the area around PSV’s Philips Stadium for two years. The Dutch club also said it will look to recover financial damages from him. PSV can expect a heavy fine after Uefa opened a disciplinary case against them following the incident. The pitch…

PARIS St-Germain fell to their first Ligue 1 home defeat since April 2021 as Rennes completed a league double over the runaway leaders. The visitors scored either side of half-time with Karl Toko Ekambi firing them in front before Arnaud Kalimuendo added a second three minutes after the break. PSG saw their unbeaten league run at the Parc des Princes ended at 35 games. Reims also saw their 19-match unbeaten run stopped by defeat to Marseille. They had last lost a league match in September in a 3-0 loss to Monaco. Reims, managed by Belgian-born Englishman Will Still, took the…

CONVERSATIVE media tycoon Rupert Murdoch will tie the knot for the fifth time, at the age of 92 years, he said Monday in an interview with his own newspaper, the New York Post. Murdoch is engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old former police chaplain in San Francisco and widow of American country singer and media executive Chester Smith. “I was very nervous. I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be,” he told the tabloid. “I’m happy.” Murdoch divorced his fourth wife, model Jerry Hall, last year after six years of…

FOR the sixth year running, Finland was named the world’s happiest country in an annual UN-sponsored index Monday that saw acts of kindness grow in Ukraine despite the Russian invasion. With thousands of lakes and near endless forests, the Nordic country is known for its extensive welfare system, high trust in authorities and low levels of inequality among its 5.5 million inhabitants. While Ukraine’s ranking improved from 98 to 92 this year, despite the Russian invasion, its overall score fell from 5.084 to 5.071, on a scale of zero to 10. Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an editor of the report,…

CHINA’s President Xi Jinping says the killers of nine Chinese goldmine workers in the Central African Republic (CAR) must be “severely” punished. Two Chinese workers were also wounded when gunmen stormed a mining site near the central town of Bambari on Sunday. The local mayor blamed a rebel group for the killings. But the rebels said Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group were behind the attack. The Wagner group has not yet commented on the claim. Its fighters are widely reported to have been deployed to mineral-rich CAR to help government forces defeat the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC),…

KENYAN police have tear-gassed opposition leader Raila Odinga’s convoy in the capital, Nairobi, as he spearheaded the biggest protest against President William Ruto’s government since it took office. The protests have also spread to other cities, with a university student reportedly shot dead in Kisumu. Mr Odinga accuses the government of being “illegitimate”, and of failing to tackle the high cost of living. Mr Ruto has rejected the claims. Kenya’s highest court upheld his victory in last year’s election, but Mr Odinga insists that the election was “stolen”. He has been driving through Nairobi’s residential suburbs to rally his supporters…

KANO state government has lifted the dawn to dusk curfew imposed in the state with a view to avoid breakdown of law and order following tensions generated from the announcement of the results of the governorship and state Assembly elections. The state commissioner for information and internal affairs, Malam Muhammad Garba, made the announcement lifting the curfew in a statement issued  Monday night . He said the decision to lift the curfew was after careful review of the situation and  the relative calm throughout the state. The commissioner called on commercial banks , public servants  and the people in the…

GUBERNATORIAL candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasir Gawuna, is now leading his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) rival in Kano State, Abba Kabiru Yusuf. Yusuf was ahead in the results so far declared but Gawuna bounced back and secured a marginal lead. So far, 14 Local Government Areas have been declared at the state collation center. The LGAs are Rano, Rogo, Makoda, Kunchi, Wudil, Karaye, Tsanyawa, Minjibir, Gabasawa, Ajingi, Bagwai, Kabo, Shanini and Albasu. The APC has so far polled 237,146 votes while NNPP has 235,956 votes, leaving a margin of 1,190. Below are details: Below are details:…

AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the oldest scorer in Serie A history, although his side lost 3-1 to Udinese. Ibrahimovic, 41, scored a retaken penalty at the end of the first half after his first effort had been saved by home goalkeeper Marco Silvestri. It was the Swede’s first goal since returning from a serious knee injury. But Udinese scored through Roberto Pereyra’s low shot, a goal from Beto in first half injury-time before Kingsley Ehizibue added a third on 70 minutes. Ibrahimovic helped Milan win the Serie A title last season before needing surgery in the summer on an…

ERLING Haaland scored his second hat-trick in five days as Manchester City cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals by hammering Championship leaders Burnley at Etihad Stadium. Haaland followed his five-goal haul against RB Leipzig in the Champions League by claiming another three to take his tally for the season to 42. He is just two short of the record held by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah for most goals in a season for an English top-flight club during the Premier League era. Julian Alvarez added two goals and substitute Cole Palmer also scored on a sobering night for former…

FORMER US President Donald Trump said he expects to be “arrested” Tuesday over an alleged hush-money payment to a porn star in 2016 and he urged his supporters to protest, as prosecutors gave signs of moving closer to an indictment. “Leading Republican candidate & former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” the 76-year-old billionaire said Saturday on his Truth Social platform, adding: “Protest, take our nation back!” An indictment would make Trump the first former US president to be charged with a crime, marking an explosive and unpredictable development in the…

AT least 12 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck the southern coast of Ecuador. Buildings have been damaged in several cities following the 6.7 magnitude quake, which hit at around midday local time (17:00 GMT). The southern province of El Oro was the worst affected, where emergency services have reported people remain trapped inside collapsed houses. Eleven deaths were in El Oro and one in Azuay province, authorities said. Machala and Cuenca were among the cities that suffered damage to buildings and vehicles, as emergency services rushed to help people. The epicentre was near Balao, about 50 miles…

A LARGE crowd gathered around the open sides of the makeshift courtroom in the village of Kamanyola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early March to watch the culmination of a trial of 15 military officers for the rape of minors. They watched in silence, some craning to see better, as a soldier stripped the epaulettes off a colonel whom a judge had just ordered be dishonourably discharged from the army and sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a local 14-year-old girl last September. “The fact that a very high-ranking officer has been sentenced…

THE United Kingdom’s interior minister, Suella Braverman, has arrived in Rwanda to discuss an agreement in which the UK will relocate undocumented refugees and migrants there as she doubles down on a plan that has been mired in legal challenges and controversy. Last year, the UK agreed to send tens of thousands of people more than 4,000 miles (6,400km) away to Rwanda as part of a 120-million-pound ($146m) deal. No flights have taken off yet because opponents are challenging the policy in the courts. The deal with Rwanda is a major part of Britain’s plans to detain and deport asylum…

OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), have arrested 10 people suspected of vote buying with N1.9 million cash in Gombe State. The EFCC Kano Zonal Commander, Farul Dogondaji, who is currently in Gombe State for election assignment, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that the suspects were arrested in Gombe, Akko, Nafada and Kwami Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state. He said that 10 suspects were apprehended with 43 wrappers trying to induce eligible voters in the affected LGAs. He said that all the suspects were arrested while attempting to share…

RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike has rated the conduct of the Governorship and State Assembly elections in Rivers State as peaceful. Wike also said there is an improvement in the conduct of today’s election compared to the Presidential and National Assembly polls, three weeks ago Unlike in the Presidential election where the governor experienced a delay in the accreditation process, today’s screening was easy and fast. Speaking just after casting his ballot at his polling unit 7 in Ward 9 in Rumuepirikom community in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, the governor was of the opinion that INEC showed that they were…

OFFICERS of the Nigerian Army have allegedly arrested unspecified number of political thugs in the university town of Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Saturday morning. Though, some media reports put the number of those arrested at 140, a high-ranking police officer who pleaded for anonymity said the thugs arrested by soldiers were only five in number. This is even as the chairman of Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Walter Ozioko, who was accused of hiring the said thugs distanced himself from the incident. Ozioko, said he had no need to hire hoodlums since his party, the…