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Tag: Jalingo

  • Presidential visit: Jalingo residents laud 24-hour uninterrupted electricity supply

    Presidential visit: Jalingo residents laud 24-hour uninterrupted electricity supply

    Residents of Jalingo, the Taraba capital, have lauded the 24- hour uninterrupted power supply in the metropolis ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s one day official visit to the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports on Wednesday that Vice President Kasshim Shettima is delegated by President Tinubu to represent him in the state and to declare open the Taraba International Investment Summit (TARAVEST) 2025.

    Mr Donald Musa, a resident of Nukkai, a suburb of Jalingo town, described the electricity supply as unprecedented.

    Musa observed that the city had experienced an epileptic power supply in the recent times and prayed that the stable supply continued even after the presidential visit.

    Read Also: Agbu Kefas shuts down Jalingo for daughter

    Similarly, Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, another resident of Jalingo, observed that the previous supply was four hours daily, noting that the sudden uninterrupted power supply may not be unconnected with the President’s visit to the state.

    She called on the Yola Electricity Distribution Company to improve its supply even after the presidential visit while also commending them for the feat.

    In the same vein, Mrs. Grace Ishaku, another resident, observed that the sharp improvement in the power supply was because of the presidential visit and urged that the development be sustained to boost the economy of the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state is billed to host Taraba First International Investment Summit with very high profile guests expected during the event.

    (NAN)

  • Man loses life in suspected Jalingo ‘one chance’ robbery

    Man loses life in suspected Jalingo ‘one chance’ robbery

    A civil servant, Lawen Bazing, was robbed and killed in a suspected tricycle robbery popularly known as ‘one chance’ on Friday night in the Mile Six area of Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

    Our correspondent learnt that the victim boarded a commercial tricycle from Mile Six area of Jalingo to the popular De Crux Nite Club (300meters away). After alighting from the tricycle, the occupants of the vehicle stabbed, dispossessed and flung the victim into a drainage channel where he was later found dead.

    Read Also: Goods worth N60 million destroyed in Jalingo fire

    Another source told The Nation that the victim was robbed and flung out by occupants of the machine.

    The Police Spokesman in Taraba, Abdullahi Usman (SP), confirmed the unfortunate event but said he was yet to get details.

  • Gunmen abduct Taraba State University Deputy Registrar

    Unknown gunmen in the early hours of Tuesday kidnapped Mr. Sanusi Sa’ad, the Deputy Registrar Administration of the Taraba State University, Jalingo.

    Dr Samuel Shikaa the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Taraba State University chapter, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Jalingo.

    Shikaa said that Sa’ad, who is also the Information and Protocol Officer of the university, was picked from his residence at the university staff quarters at about 1am.

    He said the kidnappers invaded the deputy registrar’s residence through the back side of the university that was not fenced and took him to an unknown destination.

    Read Also: Four feared dead in fresh Jukun/Tiv clashes in Taraba

    Alhaji Kalid Sa’ad, a brother to the victim, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the kidnappers had contacted him and demanded for ransom.

    He however, did not mention the amount being demanded, saying he was still negotiating with the kidnappers.

    The university branch of ASUU is currently on strike over alleged insecurity of staff resulting from lack of perimeter fencing of the institution, funding and pension for staff, among other issues.

    NAN reports that kidnapping in Taraba is gradually becoming a daily occurrence as hardly a day passes without a reported case of abduction.

    However, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Alkasim Sanusi, while launching operation Puff Adder recently, warned kidnappers and other criminals to leave the state, saying the command was determined to root them out.

    NAN

     

  • Police seek amnesty for criminals in Taraba

    The police in Jalingo, Taraba state have requested amnesty for criminals.

    Commissioner of Police, Alkasim Sanusi, said the amnesty will make criminal elements not to sin again.

    Sanusi made the suggestion at a press briefing in Jalingo while parading some criminals arrested for various offences including murder, armed robbery, rape and illegal possession of fire arms.

    Sanusi urged Governor Darius Ishaku to look into his suggestion, as he said the development will bring to near-end the spate of criminal activities in the northeastern state.

    He said that the police command in Jalingo has recorded great successes in the fight against criminals in the state but the rate of criminal activities in the state was high.

    He urged the state government to declare amnesty for all categories of criminals so that they can voluntarily surrender their weapons, shun crime and embrace a healthier lifestyle.

    “The police command has recorded great success in the fight against crime in state.

    “We have made several arrests and have battled kidnappers,  armed robbers,  rapist, Cattle rustlers and others a lot in the last few weeks.

    “While we remain resolute and determined to fish out criminal elements from the state and deal decisively with them, I will urge the state governor to declare amnesty for criminals in the state so that they can hand in their weapons and change their lives.

    “The rate of crime in the state is not encouraging at all,” he stated.

    The police commissioner said three members of a kidnapping syndicate terrorising Ardo Kola axis of the state were arrested while the command recently engaged another gang of kidnappers around Takum local government area, leading to five of them escaping with gunshot wounds.

    Four self- confessed rapists were also paraded. They were arrested for the rape and robbery of stranded persons on transit.

  • Post-election: CAN wants warring factions to sheathe swords

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Taraba Chapter, on Saturday called on warring factions in the violence that broke out in Jalingo following the announcement of the governorship election results in the state to sheathe their swords.

    Dr Innocent Solomon, the CAN Chairman in the state, made the call after a tour of the affected areas in Jalingo and a sympathy visit to the victims at the Specialist Hospital and the Federal Medical Center in Jalingo.

    Solomon assured the people that CAN and the Muslim Council were working closely with the State government to restore peace in the state.

    “We condemn the violence that broke out at the declaration of the governorship  election results in the state, and in Jalingo in particular.

    “Crises have never done any good to anybody in any society across the world.

    Read Also: Election: ‘Anglican Church committed to better Nigeria’

    “Our politicians must call their supporters to order and join hands with us in preaching peace.

    “We want to call on our political leaders to eschew violence and work for the peace of Taraba,” he said.

    While commending the role of security operatives in ensuring the return of peace in the state,  Solomon called for the release of those arrested in the wake of the crisis being kept in military facility in Jalingo, as a measure toward ensuring peace.

    “The continuous detention of those arrested in the military facility in Jalingo without being charged to court is raising concern among the people.

    “We made efforts this morning to see the Commander of the military in Jalingo, but we were told he wasn’t on seat,  but I am sure he will cooperate with us in finding solution to this problem,”he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CAN Chairman, who was accompanied on the visit by the state executives of the association, prayed for the victims and made cash donations to them.

    NAN

  • Jukun group warns over escalating violence in Jalingo

    A socio-political group, Jukun Development Association of Nigeria (JDAN), has raised the alarm over the escalating violence in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State, which has left eight persons dead, no fewer than 100 others missing and houses razed.

    At a news conference held at Apapa, Lagos, yesterday, the group, which described the scope of the violence as “overwhelming” and “beyond the state’s capacity to handle”, therefore called on the Federal Government to wade in, to prevent the state from being thrown into “avoidable religious crisis”.

    The group alleged that the new orgy of violence started on Monday March 11, immediately after the state’s INEC returning officer pronounced Governor Darius Ishaku of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the governorship election held last Saturday.

    Ishaku had won a second term by defeating his closest rival, Alhaji Danladi Sani of the All Progressives congress (APC), with over 250,000 votes at the governorship election.

    JDAN National President Chief Bako Benjamin, who drew government’s attention to the escalation of the violence in the state capital, at the news conference, said the group has every cause to believe that the present violence had a religious undertone because only Christians came under heavy attacks by people suspected to be Muslim youths.

    He said confessional statements from some of the perpetrators of the violence, arrested by the people, lay credence to the fact that the violence unleashed on the state capital was premeditated.

    He said: “The moment the state governor Darius Ishaku was declared the winner of the governorship election, the state capital was thrown into violence by angry Muslim youths and mercenaries who allegedly came from neighbouring states of Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi and other northern states, attacking the Christians living in Jalingo, the state capital.”

    According to him, JDAN has every reason to fear that if this irrational violence is not nipped in the bud and the perpetrators brought to book, the situation might escalate as “Christians who heavily populated other parts of the state may start reprisal attacks on Muslims within their communities, thereby throwing the state into an avoidable bloodbath.”

  • NiMet predicts cloudy, sunny weather for Monday

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy to partly cloudy, sunny and hazy weather conditions with chances of thunderstorm activities over most parts of the country on Monday.

    NiMet’s Weather Outlook on Sunday in Abuja predicted partly cloudy to cloudy conditions with day and night temperatures of 35 to 37 and 19 to 23 degrees Celsius.

    It also predicted chances of localised thundery activities over Mambilla plateau, Lokoja, Makurdi, Jalingo and Bida in the afternoon and evening period.

    The agency also predicted that Northern States would experience sunny and hazy conditions with day and night temperatures of 35 to 39 and 19 to 20 degrees Celsius.

    Read Also: NiMet predicts hazy weather

    According to NiMet, Southern States will experience cloudy morning and localised thunderstorms over Benin, Calabar, Warri and Port Harcourt with day and night temperatures of 34 to 37 and 20 to 25 degrees Celsius.

    “Sunny conditions are expected to prevail over the north while partly cloudy to cloudy conditions over the central states.

    “There are chances of localised thunderstorms activities over the southern part of the country within the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicted.

    NAN

  • Buhari mourns loss of lives at APC rally in Jalingo

    President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed profound sadness over of loss of lives at the All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential Campaign Rally in Jalingo, Taraba State on Thursday.

    Reacting to reports of the tragic death of some APC supporters due to the overwhelming crowd at the Jolly Nyame Stadium, the President said: “I always feel very sad and distressed when ordinary Nigerians who love me and our party because of what we stand for and have done, make personal sacrifices by taking the pains to show their support, end their lives tragically.”

    Read Also: Presidential poll will be walkover for Buhari, says El-Rufai

    While appreciating the massive support he is receiving all over the country, President Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, also called for restraint on the part of his supporters to avoid such tragic incidences and improved crowd management at rally grounds.

    “I want them to stay alive and witness the dividends of purposeful governance that the APC administration will unfold when they renew our mandate,” he said.

    Commiserating with the families of the victims and the APC family, the President prayed Almighty God to grant peace to the souls of the departed and speedy recovery to the injured.

  • Atiku cautions security agencies on polls

    The presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has cautioned the nation’s security agencies against interference with the electoral process in the upcoming general elections.

    According to Atiku, the electoral process is outside the constitutional mandate of the security agencies, adding that their duty is to ensure the safety of voters in a seamless process.

    Speaking at the party’s presidential campaign rally in Jalingo, Taraba State on Tuesday, the opposition presidential candidate also warned that any government that involves the military and paramilitary agencies in electoral matters did not mean well for the personnel.

    Atiku harped on the need for security personnel to remain neutral in the electoral process, saying such role is clearly outside their constitutional responsibilities.

    He said, “Our security services, you have no business to interfere with our political process, that is not your work. Your work is to make sure that there is peace, law and order. It is not your business to interfere in our political process; this is not your constitutional responsibility at all.

    “Your constitutional responsibility is to make sure that we are all safe. Any government that draws the security agencies, the Police, the Army, the Civil Defence, that government is doing more harm to your career, is doing more harm to your patriotism and more harm to yourselves.

    “Don’t accept that, don’t get involved, allow us to choose the leaders we want to choose and to elect the people we want to elect. It is not your business whom we elect at all. So I want to caution the security services not to get involved because there are many of us who were also security officers, so don’t come and tell us bullshit”.

    Atiku assured the Taraba people that he will tackle insecurity, which has become a major challenge in the entire Northeast zone.

    Read Also: Endorsement of Atiku, a fraud, says APC

    He also promised to complete the Mambilla Hydro Electric Power and to create the enabling environment for job creation.

    Continuing, Atiku said, “I want to promise you that the much awaited Mambilla Hydro Electric Power, we will complete it so that you will not have problem of power whatsoever.

    “I also want to promise you, that your federal roads will be taken care of. Taraba is one of the most endowed states in this country. We are going to exploit the natural resources which are in abundance in Taraba so that you can have prosperity, so that we can bring employment, so that we can create jobs for our teaming men and women”.

    Apparently referring to his presidential aspiration, Atiku told the crowd of supporters that the Northeast zone is closest to the Presidency now than ever before and charged them not to allow the opportunity to slip away.

    “And this is the first time since 1999, when you are going to have a President from this state, you are going to have a President from this zone. So do you want to take it to another state, to another zone. No! God bless you”.

    The PDP presidential candidate urged the people to vote and ensure their votes are protected and counted, even as he assured that their loyalty to PDP will never go unrewarded.

    Also speaking at the rally, the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus accused President Muhammadu Buhari of setting the military against geopolitical zones perceived to be against his re-election bid. He reminded the security agencies of their constitutional responsibility to defend the entire country.

    Secondus said, “We have issue of Boko Haram in Borno. They should tackle that issue. Buhari, don’t use the military to terrorise regions that you don’t like.

    “Enough is enough. The Nigerian military is to defend our territory’s integrity. We shouted aloud that foreigners were entering into our country. They have no response to it because we have evidence.

    “We will continue to hammer that the election must be free and fair. We will continue to address these issues until that day. We believe that when you conduct free and fair election and we elect a credible candidate, that is the only way to bring peace in this country.

    “We believe that anyone that wins from a free and fair process, that person will be the choice of Nigeria. But if you manipulate, if you rig this election, the PDP and others will not accept it. INEC, be warned”

    The Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku who hosted the rally said that Atiku has the solution to the problem of insecurity and unemployment that have ravaged the Northeast and assured that the state would be delivered to PDP in all the elections.

  • Atiku to military: Don’t dabble into election

    Presidential flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Abubakar Atiku on Tuesday cautioned the military against dabbling into the general election, slated February 16 and March 2.

    Atiku gave the warning in Jalingo -the Taraba State capital during the PDP presidential and governorship rally in the northeastern state.

    “The military signed to defend and protect the country, not to defend an individual, as no person is a god.

    “Their (military’s) quick response should be to tackle Boko Haram in Borno and the entire northern region where they are terrorising Nigerians.

    “Muhammadu Buhari, please don’t use the military to terrorise the states you don’t like. The military are to protect the territorial integrity of the country,” he said.

    Atiku also told the police, the State Security Service (SSS) and other security agencies to be neutral during the polls.

    He said: “The police and the SSS have been reformed, so we believe they will be neutral during the general election; they will not side any individual.

    Read Also: Middle Belt Forum denies endorsing Atiku

    “The job of the security is to protect us and ensure there is law and order in the land. They are not to interfere in electoral matters; so, they shouldn’t tell us bull shit.”

    Atiku said his rally in Taraba State was just “homecoming,” adding it was the first time the people of the northeastern region would be having a presidential candidate. “Will you go and vote someone from another region?” he asked.

    Atiku said the major problem of Taraba and the northeastern states was insecurity. “I will provide security,” he pledged.

    He also promised to complete the hydroelectric power project on the Mambilla Plateau, Sardauna local government area of Taraba state.

    “Everything about the Mambilla hydropower project, so far, is a scam. I will reconstruct it and every Nigerian will benefit from it, if you elect me as Nigeria’s president,” Atiku said, adding: “all the federal roads shall be taken care of; the natural resources in the country shall be tapped for job creation.”

    The PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a credible election, without taking sides.

    “With the crowd I have seen here, Taraba State is 100 percent PDP. All the people watching this rally on the television, Instagram, Twitter, Google and WhatsApp will agree that Taraba is PDP.

    “INEC should be very careful in their responses. This election cannot be rigged. If you rig it, you (INEC) will invite crisis, and we don’t want crisis.

    “If INEC can conduct free and fair polls, the people will accept whoever emerges, and the country will be peaceful, and that is what we want,” Secondus said.

    Governor Darius Ishaku, who is the PDP candidate in Taraba, assured Atiku of victory, saying: “Taraba is for Atiku.”

    “I have toured the nook and cranny of Taraba for my reelection campaign. And everywhere I went to campaign, the people all know Atiku. This is because he had traversed the State during the Gongola days.

    Atiku will give the people jobs, tackle poverty and revitalise Nigeria’s economy. The APC has failed Nigerians and Atiku is the answer. Atiku, carry go,” Ishaku said.