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President Buhari promises to ‘support and help Chad stabilize’

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President Buhari promises to ‘support and help Chad stabilize’

President Muhammadu Buhari has promised that Nigeria will assist the Republic of Chad to stabilize, and return to constitutional order.

President Buhari made the promise on Friday at State House, Abuja, while hosting Lt. Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Transitional Military Council of Chad.

According to a statement released by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, President Buhari said: “We are bound together by culture and geography, and we will help in all ways we can.

“Nigerians know and appreciate the role Chad played in helping us to combat terrorism, and we will continue the collaboration,” said the president.

President Buhari also said Chad should not hesitate to ask for help in areas it deemed necessary as the late Marshal Itno “was a personal friend, and a friend of Nigeria, and Chad has been very steadfast in defending Nigeria.”

Buhari, who said Nigeria would help strengthen the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), added that “We will also help you to ensure a smooth transition in 18 months, as you have promised your people.”

The former President of the country, Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, had died battle last month, while leading troops to confront insurgents, who had come in through Libya.

‘Stop fortifying criminals’ – Police warn native doctors in Ebonyi

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‘Stop fortifying criminals’ – Police warn native doctors in Ebonyi

The Police Command in Ebonyi has warned native doctors against providing criminals with charms to perpetrate criminal activities in the state.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Loveth Odah, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abakaliki.

Odah, who said the command was committed to the protection of lives and property, urged native doctors in the state and country at large to steer clear of unlawful businesses.

NAN reports that the police had on April 30 discovered the decomposed bodies of two young men in a shallow grave inside Uduku-Igbudu forest in Agubia, Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi.

The victims were said to have been abducted and buried alive inside the forest by their abductors, including two native doctors, who have been arrested by the police.

According to Odah, the deceased were blindfolded while ropes were tied to their necks when their decomposing bodies were exhumed by the police.

“We went to the forest with experts and the bodies have been exhumed and handed over to their relatives for burial and police investigation is at the concluding stage,’’ she said.

The PPRO explained that the two native doctors allegedly abducted the two young men on April 12 to put pressure their relatives to withdraw a case in court involving their boys.

“Yes, citizens have the right to belong to any religion but when it involves illegality, that will not be allowed.

“Avoid illegal businesses using religion, the police will arrest anyone doing that, even if the person is a native doctor,’’ Odah said.

Buhari meets Chad’s interim President in Abuja

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Buhari meets Chad’s interim President in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently meeting with General Mahamat Idriss Deby, President of Chad’s Transitional Military Council, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The agenda of the meeting was has not been disclosed but Presidency sources say the meeting may be connected to the need for countries sharing boundaries in the Sahel region to find a permanent solution to the terrorism menace and arms proliferation threatening the peace and security of the region.

Deby took over reins of leadership of his country after his father and former President of Chad, Marshal Idris Deby Itno, died of wounds sustained in battle with rebels in April.

Details later..

JAMB may postpone UTME 2021 exams

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JAMB may postpone UTME 2021 exams

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) might be postponed

The examination (UTME) is slated to hold between June 5 and 19.

The board stated the decision to either postpone the examination or to continue as scheduled would be taken later on Friday at a meeting billed to hold with concerned individuals and institutions.

Registrar of JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, said these on Friday during a virtual meeting with relevant stakeholders ahead of the examination.

Prof Oloyede blamed the development on the difficulties being experienced by the candidates in their efforts to register.

He said about 600,000 candidates who have indicated interest to participate in the 2021 UTME are yet to register.

The examination body however confirmed that the mock examination that is slated for May 20 will go on as scheduled.

Aisha Yesufu vows to disregard NIN-SIM linking exercise in protest

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Aisha Yesufu vows to disregard NIN-SIM linking exercise in protest

Nigerian activist, Aisha Yesufu, Friday has vowed to disregard the ongoing ongoing National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module integration exercise over the allegations of links to terrorist ideologies hovering around the ministry’s boss.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami had recently been in the spotlight for past controversial preachings that linked him to terror groups and a letter that alleged he was part of a genocide planning group.

These revelations have spurred overwhelming calls for the resignation or sack of the Minister because of the sensitive ministry he heads.

Also, despite the overwhelming backlash against the minister, the presidency and other voices like the Arewa Youths for Peace & Security have thrown their weight behind Pantami.

They claimed the minister can be excused because the statements were made in the past. While the presidency added that the calls were an organised “cancel campaign” and the minister has recanted his views.

However, speaking on the controversy, Aisha Yesufu who had taken a break from Twitter, returned to the social media platform to criticize the minister.

After posting a message of the end of her break with a “I am back tweet,” she then wrote, “Let me repeat categorically what I have said before. I WILL NOT BE LINKING MY NIN to my phone number! I will rather not have a phone line than willingly give my information and have it in the control of a terrorist sympathiser and his cohorts.”

This is not the first time Mrs Yesufu has criticised the minister. In April 23, she joined voices calling for the sack of Minister.

She also condemned the presidency for defending the Minister.
Speaking in a video shared on her Twitter account, Mrs Yesufu said the presidency is an institution, not Garba Shehu or President Muhammadu Buhari and this institution should not be seen supporting a terrorism sympathiser.

“The presidency is not Garba Shehu, the presidency is not even Muhammadu Buhari. The presidency is an institution and that institution must not be seen in any way whatsoever supporting someone who is known to be a terrorist sympathiser,” Mrs Yesufu said.

“We can not be a nation and allow people who support terrorism to be out there in our public domain as public servants.

“We cannot have a minister of a sector that is so sensitive and everything under that sector is with a terrorist sympathiser. Whether he has been or has repented is not an issue, the issue is that our presidency which is an institution must not be seen in any way supporting a terrorist sympathiser.”

Police in Zamfara arrests suspects allegedly involved in banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling

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Police in Zamfara arrests suspects allegedly involved in banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling

Police in Zamfara State have arrested five notorious suspects involved in banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and illegal possession of firearms.

They were paraded by the Police Public Relations Officer in Zamfara, Shehu Mohammed, on Friday at the Police Headquarters in Gusau, the state capital.

He explained that the arrest of the suspects was a result of the collaboration between the police and the state leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).

Mohammed stated that the command would continue to work with any group or persons willing to work for the peace of Zamfara and the north-west region.

He assured the people of Zamfara that the command was working hard to ensure the state was free from all criminal activities.

Those arrested were said to have been terrorising various communities in Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina States in the North West, and Niger State in the north-central part of the country.

Items recovered from the suspects included four AK-49 riffles, nine magazines, 960 live ammunition, and assorted charms.

The suspects were arrested through the efforts of the Federal Intelligence Investigation Bureau and Special Tactical Squad deployed by the Inspector General of Police to rid Zamfara and the north-west region of crime.

They were alleged to have kidnapped the younger brother of one Dr Dauda Lawal and confessed that they collected N20 million ransom, as well as received N10 million ransom for the abduction of the daughter of one Engineer Yahaya Maradun.

Among them was a Nigerien citizen, Shehu Ali Kachalla, a notorious gunrunner who confessed that he had been in the business for more than three years.

The foreigner revealed that he had sold no fewer than 4,500 rifles to different criminal gangs across the north-west region.

Abubakar Ali, another notorious kidnap suspect from Niger State, said he was operating within Kagarko and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.

He also confessed that he had been in the criminal business for three years and has killed five of his victims who could not afford to pay ramson to regain freedom from captivity.

According to the suspect, their leader pays them between N600,000 and N700,000 in any abduction that attracts N20 million ransom and above.

Southerners only talk, says ex-Oyo Governor, Rashidi Ladoja

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Southerners only talk, says ex-Oyo Governor, Rashidi Ladoja

Former Governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, Thursday, said the people in the Southern part of the country talk so much about self-determination while the Northerners are secretly working to leave Nigeria.

He backed up his points by asking for the relevance of the railway constructed in the North to link the Niger Republic and talks of building a refinery in Daura in Katsina.

The former governor also appealed to Nigerians to have more tolerance, adding that the current ugly experience would pass in the next two years.

The elder statesman said while the South-West and South-East were more vocal in demanding Oduduwa Republic and Biafra Republic, the North had been working silently for the possibility of having Arewa Republic.

Ladoja said this in an interview with journalists in his residence at Bodija, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital after observing the Eid-el-Fitr prayer at the University of Ibadan Central Mosque.

“Let us start with tolerance. At a certain level, people will be talking, but we only know the beginning of a war, not the end. Nobody will remember how the war in Syria started and it is still on for years. And everything they built is being destroyed. So, I think we have to do it softly. We have started democracy. We are not happy with the way it is going.

“But even Quran says there will be a time when God will give you good leaders; there will be a time when the leaders that you are given by God are not as good because He wants you people to see the difference. We should assume that this too will pass. It started six years ago. In another two years, it will go.

“If you are saying because of that you want to go or you don’t want to go, who even tells you that the North is not even getting ready to go? Let us look at it, people in the South are talking too much, and people up North are acting too much.

“In Yorubaland, we talk too much. The North is also preparing to leave and they are working at it. Do you think it is a mistake that they are constructing a railway to the Niger Republic when we have not built a railway from Ibadan to Kano, not even Abuja, and they said it is the first place we are going to spend our money?

“Can’t the refinery in Kaduna be repaired? Why are they saying they would build another refinery in Daura (Katsina State)? And they would be bringing crude oil from the Niger Republic to the place. Don’t let us deceive ourselves, maybe a time will come when all of us will sit down together and separate peacefully.”

INEC office in Enugu State has been razed down by midnight fire

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INEC office in Enugu State has been razed down by midnight fire

The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Obollo-Afor, Udenu local government area of Enugu State has been razed down by midnight fire.

The police confirmed the fire incident In a statement by the Enugu police spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe, titled, ‘Fire incident at INEC office in Obollo-Afor: CP orders the conduct of the thorough investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire outbreak and damages incurred’.

The statement noted that the combined effort of the state fire service, residents, and security agents prevented the fire from razing other offices.

The statement read in part, “Following a distress call received at Udenu Police Divisional Headquarters of Enugu State Command on 13/05/2021 at about 2140hrs, alleging that there was fire outbreak at the Obollo-Afor Office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Udenu L.G.A. of the State,

“Operatives attached to the Division immediately raced to the scene, while contacting Fire Service Office in the area to promptly put out the fire.

“Preliminary investigation suggests that the fire, which was eventually put out before it could spread to other offices around the building, through the combined efforts of the State Fire Service, the Police and law-abiding citizens, may have been caused by power surge due to sudden power supply to the building.

Senate President Ahmed Lawan warns elected officials against calling for restructuring

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Senate President Ahmed Lawan warns elected officials against calling for restructuring

Senate President Ahmed Lawan has warned elected officials, including state governors against calling for the restructuring of the country.

Lawan who gave the warning in Abuja on Thursday, while speaking to journalists, said he was not against those calling for restructuring but elected officials must not be among those advocating for such calls.

“The call for secession or the call for restructuring, many are genuine calls even though I never believe that someone who is calling for secession means well or is a misguided person.

“But I believe that when somebody calls for improving the structure that we have is a genuine call.

“But I want to advice here, I believe that as leaders those of us who were elected must not be at the forefront of calling for this kind of thing because even if you are a governor you are supposed to be working hard in your state to ensure that this restructuring you are calling for at the federal level you have done it in your state as well.” He said.

“This is because what you may accuse the federal government of whatever it is, you may also be accused of the same thing in your state.

“So, we are supposed to ensure that we have a complete and total way of ensuring that our systems at the federal, state and even local government work for the people, and that we allow people to participate in governance so that whoever feels that he has something to offer to make Nigeria better does so freely without any hindrance.’’ he further stated.

He also said elected leaders across the three tiers of government to always avoid primordial sentiments capable of creating division and social discontent among Nigerians.

“We should avoid partisanship, we should avoid regionalism. We are all leaders and we are in this together. The solution must come from us regardless of what level of government we are – whether at the federal, state or even at the local government level,’’ he added.

Cross River to deploy drones to deliver medical supplies to rural communities

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Cross River to deploy drones to deliver medical supplies to rural communities

The Cross River State Government has announced that it will begin the use of drones to deliver medical supplies in hard to reach areas in the state, this is as the government has signed an MOU with Zipline technology, a drone manufacturing company to do that regards.

The move, a part of the state plans to ensure Universal Health Coverage was cemented early this week at a ceremony at the Cross River State Government House, in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Governor Ben Ayade stated that the drone medical services will play a special role in the recently launched State Health Insurance Scheme and his larger vision to make quality health care accessible even in rural communities;

“In 90 days, we will start the delivery of essential drugs to hard to reach areas facilitated by the use of Drone delivery systems, the first of its kind in south-south Nigeria.”

The Governor expressed optimism that going forward, Zipline will be a major stakeholder in quality healthcare delivery in the state, especially when the state-owned pharmaceutical company, starts running.
“When our pharmaceutical company begins operation, it will be a major producer of most of these drugs, while you handle Ariel logistics. we should be able to do 30minutes per delivery.” Ayade stated.

Also speaking, Dr Betta Edu, the state commissioner of heath held that the deployment of drones will reduce waste and save lives.

“In a bid to ensure that medical supplies, drugs, consumables, blood and even vaccines get to our health facilities right on time and in their right potent form, we’ve found it necessary to introduce this innovation into our health system putting into consideration the numerous access challenges the state is facing today.

“These Drones will make the delivery of health products convenient and fast as many lives will be saved as a result of this. We’ll immediately align it with the State’s health dashboard and all proceedings will be monitored to enable us to know which health facility is lacking what to avoid stock out.” She said.

Zipline’s Senior Vice President in charge of Africa Operations, Mr Daniel Marfo on his part commended the state for the huge trust, and vouch that the agreement signed mean more strides for the state health sector.

“Let me on behalf of my team say we’re most pleased with your dynamic vision of ensuring that Cross River State leapfrogs the tradition and norms by leaving the analogue way of transporting medical products and moving into the 22nd century using technology. We will achieve positive results with a mandate to cover the entire State and country within a short time.”

The Drones is said to have the capacity to cover about 85km, an autonomous control mechanism and a flight operation team at every distance with an ability to supply medical products and other consumables to such areas.

ICPC declares Buhari’s son-in-law wanted over alleged $65million fraud

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ICPC declares Buhari’s son-in-law wanted over alleged $65million fraud

Gimba Yau Kumo, the son-in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari, has been declared wanted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

His name was published on list of wanted persons released by the anti corruption agency on Thursday May 13.

The spokesman of the ICPC, Azuka Ogugua, in the published notice, announced that Kumo, alongside two other suspects, Tarry Rufus, and Bola Ogunsola, were allegedly involved in the diversion of national housing funds to the tune of $65,000,000.

In the notice, Ogugua said:

“The persons whose pictures appear above, Mr. Tarry Rufus, Mr. Gimba Yau Kumo and Mr. Bola Ogunsola, are hereby declared WANTED by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in connection with issues bordering on misappropriation of National Housing Funds and diversion of the sum of Sixty Five Million dollars ($65,000,000).”


He appealed to anyone with useful information on their whereabouts to report to ICPC Headquarters Abuja, any of its state offices or the nearest police station. They can also call the agency on its toll-free lines or send an email to [email protected].

A former managing director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Kumo is known to have married one of President Buhari’s daughters, Fatima, in 2016 at Daura, Katsina state.

Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed says most of the banditry and kidnapping across the country are being perpetrated by Muslims

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Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed says most of the banditry and kidnapping across the country are being perpetrated by Muslims

Bauchi Governor, Bala Mohammed has regretted most of the banditry and kidnapping across the country are being perpetrated by Muslims.

Mohammed warned fellow Muslims to desist from harbouring bandits and kidnappers, saying they must be courageous to hand them over to security agencies.

The Governor spoke on Thursday at the Government House shortly after performing the Eid prayers to mark the Sallah.

He said: “We are grateful to Allah. Ramadan has been a period of prayers and devotion. As a nation we need to reflect deeply on our common existence because we are challenged by so many aspects of our misdemeanors, crime and criminality.

”As a Muslim, most of the criminality is coming from us as members of the Islamic faith. That’s the issue of banditry, kidnapping and the rest.

”However, we must be very courageous to say it. It’s not something acceptable in the tenet of Islam. We should fear God to make sure we don’t give ourselves, our community and even our religion a bad name. We must have to change as this is really escalating to other parts of the country.”

The Governor, who called on the Federal government to work towards improving the security architecture, stated that tackling insecurity is a collective effort.

According to him, political, traditional and religious leaders have major roles to play.

He added: ”We know these bandits. We know where they stay and what they do. Sometimes they are aided and abetted by us.

“We should fish them out because the police in their limited numbers are already overwhelmed due to insufficient human capital.

”Apparently, the FG security architecture has failed not because of any compromise but because the situation is overwhelming.”

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