The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • Kogi guber election: Miyetti Allah endorses Bello

    The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has adopted Gov. Yahaya Bello as its candidate for the forthcoming Nov. 16 governorship election in the state.

    The National Organising Secretary of the group, Alhaji Aliyu Saleh, who made the declaration at a news conference in Lokoja on Saturday, directed Fulanis in the state to immediately embark on Ruga-to-Ruga campaign for the re-election of Bello.

    Saleh said that the group decided to support the governor for providing a secure environment for Fulanis to operate in the state.

    “We are also supporting the governor for approving free Contagious Bovine Plurol Pheneumonia (CBPP) vaccination for over 23, 000 cows belonging to our members in the state ,” he said.

    The group also commended Bello for putting in place measures which had led to a reduction in clashes between farmers and herders in the state.
    It also stated that the governor had given its members a sense of belonging by appointing one of them into his cabinet and by making their leaders members of the traditional councils at the state and local government levels.

    The national organising secretary, who was flanked by the state Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Umaru Jaido, also said that they decided to endorse Bello’s candidature because of their love for President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Read Also: Kogi poll: SDP candidate rejects disqualification

    The State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Abubakar Ohere, who received the endorsement document on behalf of the governor, thanked the group for adopting Bello as its candidate.

    Ohere described Gov. Bello as a leader with a large heart, saying that his priority had always been to provide security for all, irrespective of tribe and religion.

    He said that Bello decided to include Fulani leaders in the traditional council to reduce communal clash, especially between farmers and herders.

    While thanking the association for the endorsement, the commissioner said the gesture would propel Bello to do more for the people of the state.

  • DSS loses two personnel in car crash

    The Department of State Service on Friday September 27, 2019 lost two of its personnel in a fatal car crash.

    A statement by the Public Relations Officer,Department of State Services, National Headquarters, Abuja, Dr Peter Afunaya, indicated that the incident occurred in the evening at Gidan Busa Katari, along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.

    “The team was heading to one of the States in the North-West zone for an operation when the Hilux vehicle in which they were travelling somersaulted. Two (2) persons died in the accident while another was injured. He is presently receiving required attention in a medical facility.

    “This clarification has become necessary in order to debunk fake news making the round that the gallant officers were attacked by bandits. The public is enjoined to disregard any contrary information,” the statement read.

  • Five RRS operatives arrested for alleged extortion of N5,000

    Five policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command had been arrested over alleged extortion of N5,000 from a woman.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the RRS said through its Twitter handle that the men were arrested on Friday in Ajah area of the state.

    “Our officers at Ajah extorted N5,000 from a lady; our Ops officers went in search, arrested and detained them at Alausa Headquarters of the squad.

    “They will be transferred to the headquarters on Monday for trial,” the RRS twitted.

    The squad, however, did not state what led to the extortion and if the money collected was recovered.

    In response to NAN queries on cases of impersonation of RRS operatives, it said that all RRS operatives must wear official badges on sleeves and their name tags on the breast of their shirts.

    It stressed that the public could also identify white vehicles of RRS operatives with red and blue stripes and “RRS” boldly inscribed on the body of the vehicles, motorcycles and Armored Personnel Carriers (APC).

  • Gunmen kill 24-yr-old student in Kogi

    Yet-to-be identified gunmen have allegedly killed a fresh student of the Department of Community Health, College of Health Sciences and Technology, Idah, Kogi State, Sule Moses.

    The 24-year old student was allegedly attacked and killed by the unknown gunmen, on Thursday, at a private hostel, located behind the school.

    The college provost, Dr Nuhu Anyegeu described the attack on the student as ‘inconceivable and shocking.

    The provost in a statement issued, in Idah, on Saturday, expressed regret over the death of the deceased, who he described as a promising young man.

    “On behalf of the college community, particularly the Governing Council and management of the institution, I am deeply touched by this act of man’s inhumanity to man.

    “We sincerely extend the deepest sympathy of the management to the parents of the deceased and the entire college community over this shocking development,” he stated.

    He appealed for calm and cooperation, particularly among the students of the institution.

    He said that the incident was immediately reported at the Idah Police Station, and the body of the conveyed to the mortuary.

    Read Also: Gunmen abduct two senior NSCDC officials

    He added that the deceased has since been buried in his home town in Dekina LGA of Kogi, amidst weeping and wailing by students of the institution.

    He called on the police to do a thorough investigation into the unfortunate incidence and bring the perpetrators to justice.

    The Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), William Anya, said that he was not aware of the incidence, but promised to find out and get back to our reporter.

    As at the time of filing this report, the police spokesman was yet to get back to our reporter.

  • Ex-Northern governor desperate for Fowler’s job

    People who say that politicians without political offices are like fish out of water surely know what they are talking about if the case of an immediate past governor of one of the northern states is anything to go by.

    Since he lost his bid for a second term in the 2019 general elections, he has been angling for juicy positions in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

    One of the positions he is eyeing desperately, SENTRY gathered, is that of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) currently occupied by a former Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, Dr. Babatunde Fowler.

    Although many expect that the former governor would take his scanty academic qualifications into consideration in angling for the juicy office, he is driven by his belief that he could get anything he wants by pulling the right strings.

    He is busy pulling the strings in Abuja at the moment and even telling whoever cares to listen that he would succeed Fowler. Some of his close pals were said to have drawn his attention to his limited academic qualifications but he reportedly told them it is a political battle and not an academic one, hence he would fight it to the last point.

    Ironically, the former governor was said to have failed woefully to grow the internally generated revenue of his state while he held sway as the state’s chief executive.

  • FG to drag judge before NJC for granting Sowore bail

    There were indications last night that the federal government was contemplating reporting Justice Taiwo Taiwo, to the National Judicial Council (NJC) on account of his decision to grant bail to the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Mr. Omoyele Sowore.

    Justice Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja admitted Sowore to bail on Tuesday and dismissed the objection raised by the Department of State Security (DSS) to the bail.

    The Nation gathered last night that a shocked Nigerian security and intelligence community met on the matter yesterday and resolved to appeal the judgement.

    It also decided to petition the NJC on the issue.

    A top government source, who spoke to The Nation, on the condition of anonymity, said that anyone standing trial for treasonable felony is not entitled to bail.

    He said :”Sowore’s bail is likely to bring trouble for that judge. A report has been prepared to report him to NJC in view of the fact that, as far as this country, it is known that a person charged treasonable felony has no bail option.

    “So, the security and intelligence community in the country is shocked by the judgement.

    “And there is a consensus that the judgement should not only be appealed, but that the NJC should be petitioned about the conduct and abuse of power by the judge.”

    Sowore was arrested and kept in the custody of the DSS since 3rd of August, 2019, for allegedly calling for “revolution” through the group’s protest fixed for 5th of September 2019.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Court orders Sowore’s release

    Sowore on Thursday, commenced a contempt suit against the Director-General of the DSS,Yusuf Bichi, for allegedly disobeying the order granting him bail.

    On Wednesday his lawyers submitted his passport to a Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.

    Meanwhile Sowore remained in the custody of the Department of Security Service (SSS) last night, 72 hours after a Federal High Court granted him bail.

    His lawyers claimed yesterday that the DSS refused to comply with the court order even after his bail conditions had been met.

    It was gathered that a court bailiff bearing the documents confirming that the bail conditions had been met was not allowed into the DSS premises Abuja yesterday morning.

    He was asked to come back at 12 noon which he did.

    This time,the document was collected from him and Sowore’s lawyers at the gate,yet he was not released.

    Sowore is facing trial for treaons -related charges.

    Justice Taiwo Taiwo ordered the release the convener of #RevolutionNow protest on Tuesday on the condition that his lawyer , Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), will produce him for arraignment whenever he is required.

  • Couple, four others arrested for allegedly stealing, selling siblings for N900,000

    The police in Imo State have arrested a couple and four others for stealing and selling two siblings for N900,000.

    The state’s Police Commissioner, Rabiu Ladodo, said the command had recovered one of the stolen children, Promise Opunwa, 2, while his elder sister, Oluma, 4, was still missing.

    Parading the suspects before newsmen, Ladodo who gave the names of the suspects as Chika Obi,28 and Chiamaka Obi, described the deal as absurd, saying that the infant was recovered at Uli in Anambra State.

    Ladodo said other members of the syndicate, include Ogidi Chukwuma, 26; Anuforo Ogechi, 28; Ebere Okafor,45, and Chioma Ngobiri, 46.

    He said: “On August 4, three members of the syndicate invaded the house of one Ijeoma Opunwa and inflicted machete cut on one Daberechi Okafor who was present at the time of the invasion.”

    Read Also: Couple nabbed for selling three-day -old baby for N300,000 in Imo

    “They instilled fear on other occupants and made away with two children, Oluma (4), and Promise (2) to an unknown destination. They robbed them of their phones and undisclosed amount of money.”

    The CP said his men carried out diligent investigation and arrested the suspects at their hideout in Umulololo in Okigwe Local Government Area.

    “The suspects confessed to the crime and even led operatives to Onitsha through Uli in Anambra State where their gang members one Ebere Okafor and Chioma Ngobiri were arrested and one of the stolen children, Promise ,2, was recovered. “

    Ladodo assured that the remaining missing child would be recovered.

    One of the suspects, Ogidi, he said admitted that he got N130, 000 from the shady transaction.

  • Yes, I’ve seen Buhari’s certificate, but any further need?

    Since Atiku Abubakar lost in his bid to become our President, he has made great issue of whether or not President Muhammad Buhari possesses the minimum educational qualification to run for the high office of President of Nigeria.

    I have combed all relevant documents to know that to be our President, you must be educated up to a minimum of West African School Certificate level. Atiku, the PDP and their lawyers are telling us that our President does not have a secondary school leaving certificate and that if he has, he couldn’t produce it. They offered to help Buhari search for it – from his weather-beaten cupboard in his native home in Daura to the remnants of the burnt records of the West African Examinations Council at their imposing office headquarters in Jibowu area of Yaba in Lagos.

    Açcording to tales by Atiku, since the search for Buhari’s certificate had, to them, ended up in futility like the guys out there looking for the head of the air that circulate round the world, Buhari should be asked to relinquish the mandate given to him by the Nigerian people and surrender the presidential ‘tiara’ Atiku has coveted so much since his barely disguised bid to oust his boss, Olusegun Obasanjo in the post-military Presidency of 1999 to 2007.

    But the elusive certificate, I am happy to report to the Atiku crowd, has been found by some concerned citizens in the vault of Tafa Adeoye, the deceased leader of the Yoruba militant group otherwise known as Agbekoya Movement, at his headquarters at Akanran, the border town between Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State and Ibadan in Oyo State. The ‘but’ in the matter is that the certificate has been partially eaten by termites and thus defaced to be presented in the President’s favour at the Supreme Court where Atiku is headed in his desperation to win through the courts, the presidency he lost at the polls.

    Some hope for Atiku? If you ask me, I’d say his ice hasn’t got a ghost of a chance in hell in this case. In the first place, it is uncommon for a 5-0 unanimous decision of a presidential election appeal tribunal to be upturned by any Supreme Court. One could have made a safe guess of victory for Nigeria’s serial presidential contestant if the appeal tribunal verdict had been split, say 3-2!

    In the second place, no Supreme Court of the calibre of the eminent jurists sitting there will be consciencelessly audacious enough to throw a whole country into chaos by upstaging a sitting president whose popularity rating on integrity and piety has no parallel among his peers.

    That said, this columnist calls to question the patriotic and intelligence credentials of those who thought educational qualification could be a basis for blighting Buhari’s victory.

    I move forward to say all those who think that way have insulted the collective intelligence of citizens of this country and portrayed the nation in bad light by suggesting even remotely that a man who rose in the nation’s Army to become a General, a state governor, a federal minister of petroleum, a head of state and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and a democratically-elected president, is un-educated and unfit to lead the country.

    Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the afro-beat legend, had not seen much when he sang his popular song “Ye-ye dey smell”. This is it! The putrid odour of this Atiku desperation and the height it has been taken is offensive to the nose and altogether unacceptable. He should wait till 2023 to try his luck again.

  • ‘No plan to dethrone Emir of Kano’

    The Kano State Government, on Friday, denied allegations that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, is planning to dethrone the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammad Sanusi II.

    Earlier, a Kano group, Renaissance Coalition, in a press statement, signed by its spokesman, Ibrahim A. Waiya, which was made available to The Nation, alleged that plans were under way by the Kano State Government to transfer the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammad Sanusi II to Bichi Emirate.

    According to the statement, if the monarch resists the move, he would be dethroned.

    Read Also: Ganduje’s, Sanusi’s feud worsens

    However, the statement cautioned Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje against, the plot, which is capable of destabilizing the peace and stability being enjoyed in the state.

    The group, in the statement, threatened that if the governor goes ahead, with its plan, it would have no option than to compel the Federal Government to declare a state of Emergency in Kano.

    When contacted,  Governor Abdullahu Umar Ganduje’s Chief Press Secretary, Abba Auwal, dismissed as false, allegations that the State Government was planning to depose the Emir, insisting that there was no such plan.

  • How we killed 16 Okada men, buried them in shallow graves

    A suspected serial killer in Benue State arrested for killing 16 persons and burying the victims in mass graves has said that he killed his victims for ritual and supernatural powers.

    The 30-year-old suspect, Iorwuese  Kpila, made the shocking confession while he was paraded on Friday alongside six other members of his gang by the Benue State Police Commissioner, Mukaddas Garba.

    They were paraded before reporters at the Benue State Police headquarters in Makurdi by the state Commissioner of Police Mukaddas Garba.

    Kpila said he planted cassava on the mass graves as a decoy. The suspects said they lured their victims who are mostly commercial motorcycle operators popularly called okada and killed them.

    He said: “We would tell okada riders to drop us at a certain location and immediately we reached there, me and my gang members would grab the victim and strangulate him with a rope. We would dig a grave, bury him and plant cassava on top of the grave, thereafter sell the motorcycle.’’

    Read Also: Sanwo-Olu to decide 4,500 okadas’s fate

    He claimed that a spirit known as ‘Queen’ told him to kill 18 persons to acquire supernatural powers ’to appear and disappear.’

    He added: ‘’My father was a native doctor, I have four wives but they left me with their children

    He disclosed that he had operated for three months only, although some of the bodies exhumed appeared to have been buried for more than a year.

    CP Garba urged members of the public to feel free to offer his command genuine information about criminals and their activities in the state.